Course summary

This is an MRC Doctoral Training Programme (DTP) in Precision Medicine and a collaboration between the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. Precision medicine is a transformational approach to disease treatment and prevention, focusing on identifying which strategy will be effective for which patients, based on genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. Put most simply, it means giving the right treatment to the right patient at the right time. To do this it integrates evidence from advanced data on myriad clinical samples with the individual genomics, e-record, imaging and other data-rich -omic parameters to enable discovery and tailored therapies. There is a huge unmet need to train a generation of scientists who can excel in state-of-the-art interrogation of genetic and genomic information, developing and utilising analytical methodologies to provide evidence to improve health and well-being. We aim to train the next generation of research leaders, experts in informatics-based approaches and biomedical technologies, who are thus able to unravel disease mechanisms and devise new therapies. We aim to train such researchers to realise the full potential of Precision Medicine. Our students will learn to develop quantitative research creativity for use in their future careers in fast moving disciplines, as biomedical science embraces new data-rich opportunities. Our collaborative DTP will provide state-of-the-art training in informatics, data analytics, genetics, genomics, epidemiology, clinical populations, clinical tissue and ‘liquid biopsy’ interrogation and molecular pathology. Hypotheses generated, including novel disease mechanisms and drivers, may be tested in the most appropriate disease models. Uniquely, our DTP offers:

• PhD with integrated study - training in Precision Medicine towards becoming a T-shaped researcher (broad in outlook while studying in depth)

• cutting-edge learning in both medicine and computation

• vast data assets emerging from the infrastructure and facilities within the world-leading training environments provided by the three partners, Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Karolinska