Personalised medicine and you!

What if you were prescribed treatment based on your genetic makeup, environment and lifestyle?

This is already a reality and the practice is called precision medicine or personalised medicine. Essentially, this means your genes determine the treatment you receive. The treatment is, of course, based on the results of a slew of diagnostic tests which can zero in on the genetic changes happening in our body cells. Combine diagnostics with bespoke treatment and you get precision medicine and companion diagnostics!

I’m delighted to share that the Department for International Trade, in partnership with the UK Science & Innovation Network (SIN), will be organising several activities focused on precision medicine and companion diagnostics at the upcoming India-UK Tech Summit in New Delhi. The SIN team facilitates UK-India research partnerships in a range of sectors including healthcare and life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and agri-tech. Precision medicine is a SIN priority this year and we hope to spur bilateral discussions on future joint programmes at the Summit.

I’m really happy to add that the UK’s Precision Medicine (PM) catapult will be represented at the Summit. It was established in 2015 to accelerate the growth of research and innovation in this exciting area by facilitating connections amongst academia, industry, and government. Its regional Centres of Excellence are located at the University of Glasgow, Queen’s University Belfast, University of Oxford, University of Leeds, University of Cardiff, and University of Manchester.

The Catapult Programme in the UK represents a network of eleven world leading centres in areas including high value manufacturing, transport systems, and cell and gene therapy, amongst others. These centres are spread across the UK to take advantage of local skills and know-how to bring lab scale technologies to the marketplace.

Access to cutting edge diagnostics tests is vital to the success of precision medicine. We’ve ensured the presence of the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA) at the Summit to showcase the significance of this complementary relationship. BIVDA represents the interests of the manufacturers and distributors from the IVD industry in the UK. Of course, any IVD company can become a member of BIVDA regardless of its country of origin.

If you work in the life sciences area in academia, industry, or government, then this event is perfect for exploring how UK and Indian expertise and technology can collaborate. Please register here. See you in November!