People
Professor Nick Reynolds
Precision Medicine and Rare Diseases Theme Lead
Precision Medicine and Rare Diseases
Our Precision Medicine and Rare Diseases theme seeks to radically improve identification of patients who will respond to specific treatments. Equally importantly we seek to identify patients who will not respond to treatments. This will ensure patients are given the most appropriate treatments and not therapies which might be ineffective and harmful. We are evaluating health technologies that divide patients with the same medical condition into secondary groups. These devices often examine the patients’ genetic makeup. From this information the tests can help to predict how the different groups of patients will respond to particular treatments.
At the core of this theme is our ability to connect industry to leading experts who have access to large well characterised cohorts of patients. This includes coordinated cancer biobanks, NovoPath, and NIHR BioResource Centre Newcastle. We collaborate with academics and the life science industry to progress their discoveries into translational research through funds including the Medical Research Council Confidence in Concept and Proximity to Discovery programmes which are held at Newcastle University.
This theme is led by Nick Reynolds, Professor of Dermatology at Newcastle University and NIHR senior investigator. Our deputy theme lead is Dr Jessica Dyson, consultant hepatologist at Newcastle Hospitals.
This theme builds on the internationally recognised strengths of the North East in chronic inflammatory diseases, cancer, acute medicine and rare diseases. Past projects within this theme include tests for prostate cancer, familial hypercholesterolaemia and leukaemia.
