A multi-million pound research programme aims to tackle lung infections and future pandemics has been announced at the University of Edinburgh with support from a significant donation by Baillie Gifford. The Baillie Gifford Pandemic Science Hub will use translational genomics – following clues from the human genome to identify, and rapidly test new treatments – with experimental medicine methods to quickly evaluate and develop drugs for lung inflammation and injury caused by infection. It will combine Edinburgh’s world-class ability to determine a person’s genetic predisposition to lung injury with advanced interventional robotics for drug delivery, cutting-edge sensing and sampling technologies, and innovative clinical trial design. Baillie Gifford is supporting the launch with a philanthropic gift of £14.7 million. The University aims to secure a total of £100m investment to accelerate discoveries to drive clinical translation in Covid-19 and other human lung diseases, as well as aiding preparedness for future pandemics. This investment will accelerate partnerships and translational opportunities with other academic organisations, industry and other collaborators worldwide. The hub will attract additional interdisciplinary research scientists and clinical leaders to drive this work forward. We have been genuinely excited to see the results of the GenOMICC and STOPCOVID projects and our investment aims to accelerate these programmes. The Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on how vulnerable the world is to this type of virulent viral infection. Our aim is to contribute towards better preparedness for new Covid-19 variants and other pandemics in the future. We see great opportunity in the innovative approaches taken by the University of Edinburgh. Mark Urquhart partner at Baillie Gifford Patient focus The hub will bring together expertise from two large experimental medicine consortiums led by the University, known as GenOMICC and STOPCOVID, with a focus on critical care patients. GenOMICC, led by scientists from the Roslin Institute, has found 17 genes underlying severe Covid-19, leading to new drug treatments which can reduce the likelihood of death from Covid-19 infection. STOPCOVID has established pathways for testing therapies in patients alongside accelerating technologies for delivering and measuring drugs in human lungs. To quicken the discovery of new treatments, the team will deliver microdoses of multiple medicines to key areas of patients’ lungs and observe whether the drugs work on their own or in combination. Faster drug development The constant risk of respiratory viruses, combined with the emergence of antibiotic resistance in respiratory diseases, means a radical new approach to streamlining drug development and evaluation is needed. To deliver this vision the hub will harness the expertise of the University’s leading data scientists, roboticists, engineers, chemists, biologists, regulatory experts, drug developers, toxicologists, translational managers and clinicians. The generous donation from Baillie Gifford enables us to build on recent advances in genomics, computing, engineering and experimental medicine – all major strengths at Edinburgh – to speed up the process of drug development, so that we’ll be able to find targeted therapies more quickly for new, and old, diseases. The hub will use clues from human genetics to develop new drugs, and then build technologies to rapidly test those drugs in critically ill patients. Professor Kenneth Baillie GenOMICC’s chief investigator and Professor of Experimental MedicineRoslin Institute and Centre for inflammation Research Our partnership with Baillie Gifford in creating this innovative Pandemic Science Hub demonstrates the way in which enlightened philanthropic investment can accelerate academic research. This initiative has the capacity to positively impact many lives both locally and globally and we are very pleased to be working with Baillie Gifford in this transformative way. Professor Peter Mathieson Principal and Vice-Chancellor of University of Edinburgh Related links GenOMICC STOPCOVID Prof Kenny Baillie Prof Kev Dhaliwal Edinburgh Bioquarter Centre for Inflammation Research This article was published on 2022-11-03
