Cardiff has been recognised as a centre of excellence for precision medicine by Innovate UK, part of the national research funding agency, UK Research and Innovation.
Cardiff University, along with Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, NHS Wales partners and the Life Science Hub, attended the launch of the Network of Centres of Excellence of Precision Medicine last month. The event was organised by UKRI's Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN).
KTN defines precision medicine as "technology that enables early and accurate diagnosis to inform patient treatment, as well as the availability of targeted therapies". This includes combining clinical biomarker knowledge with advances in diagnostic imaging technologies, data analysis and advanced therapies.
Precision medicine is also commonly referred to as stratified or personalised medicine and has the potential to transform healthcare by developing greatly improved clinical diagnostics and targeted treatments.
Cardiff University and its partners have a wide portfolio of multidisciplinary research in precision medicine, including in imaging, artificial intelligence (AI), clinical diagnostics, diagnostic biomarker technologies, genomics, advanced therapies and data science, as well as having strong links with clinical and business partners.
The Network comprises six regional founder centres of excellence - Cardiff, Belfast, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Oxford - who joined the event to present and celebrate the impact of these centres in promoting innovation in this field.
Additionally, the centres have provided opportunities for academics, businesses and healthcare providers to work together to accelerate development of precision medicine for health and economic benefit.
