Oxford University's Researchers To Lead Two New Medical Research Council Centres

Medical Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation, is introducing its first two centres for developing therapeutics for diseases which are currently untreatable. Oxford University will lead and co-lead these centres.

Study in UK: UK Research and Innovation's Medical Research Council is introducing its first two centres called Centres of Research Excellence (CoRE). Oxford University is going to lead one of these centres and co-led the other one. The centres aim to develop transformative and advanced therapeutics for untreatable diseases.

"The Centres will take different approaches to translating the advances in genomics into therapies to treat many diseases, such as heart disease, severe immune disorders, genetic causes of blindness, many developmental disorders that affect children, including those that cause severe seizures in babies, and neurodegenerative conditions including Huntingdon’s disease," reads the statement of the Oxford University.

Details Of Centres Led By Oxford University

The centres are called the MRC Centre of Research Excellence in Therapeutic Genomics and the MRC/BHF Centre of Research Excellence in Advanced Cardiac Therapies. British Heart Foundation (BHF) will co-fund the MRC/BHF Centre of Research Excellence in Advanced Cardiac Therapies which will work on developing gene therapies for heart diseases.

Professor Paul Riley, a Co-director of the MRC/BHF Centre of Research Excellence in Advanced Cardiac Therapies, from the University of Oxford, said, "To tackle heart disease, it’s critical that any therapy we develop needs to be globally applicable and affordable, so it can be rolled out at cost and imbedded in healthcare systems. Our goal is to bring one or more novel advanced therapies for heart failure to be ready for clinical trials in the first seven years of the programme."

Professor Stephan Sanders, Director of the new MRC CoRE in Therapeutic Genomics, from the University of Oxford, said, "Reprogramming genetic therapies has the potential to treat thousands of genetic disorders. The new Centre will help create a paradigm shift in the knowledge, infrastructure, technology, and industry regulation so that we can make safe and effective patient-customised therapies en masse."

Professor Deborah Gill, Co-Director of the MRC CoRE in Therapeutic Genomics, from the University of Oxford said, "We will also prioritize innovation in research culture, ensuring that science is conducted in an ethical and responsible manner, incorporating feedback from patients and the public, so that the findings are distributed to benefit society. To achieve our vision, we will recruit talented researchers and students and teach them to consider every step of the way from lab to clinic."

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