University Awarded GBP 2 Million To Study Role Of Genetics In Drug Efficacy
Liverpool. The University of Liverpool has been awarded GBP 2 million in funding by the Department of Health to study how a patient's genetic make-up can affect their responses to certain drugs.
The funding will be shared between three projects in an effort to advance knowledge of pharmacogenetics, which will eventually lead to tailor-made treatments to suit individual patient needs.
Professor Munir Pirmohamed, from the University's Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, has been awarded GBP 850,000 for research into the drug Warfarin, which is prescribed to prevent blood clotting and is currently used by 600,000 patients in the UK. Professor Pirmohamed will investigate the role of genetics and the environment as causes of bleeding in some patients who use Warfarin.
Professor John Caldwell, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University and himself an expert in this area, commented: "These awards acknowledge the pre-eminence of Liverpool in pharmacogenetics and will further our knowledge and technological ability in this exciting field. We hope they will help doctors to gather more information about patients' genes to predict how they will respond to different medicines."
"The research should help to reduce harmful drug reactions in patients, by assuring that the treatments they receive are matched to their genetic make-up."
Professor Pirmohamed and his colleagues Dr Saye Khoo and Professor Kevin Park are also taking part in a joint GBP 600,000 study with a team at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne to study the genetic factors that determine whether patients are more susceptible to liver injury as a result of taking penicillin and anti-tuberculosis medicines. New postdoctoral researchers and nurses will be employed at Liverpool as part of the study.
A GBP 750,000 award has been made to Professor David Chadwick from the Division of Neurological Science for new research into epilepsy. His project aims to improve management of the condition by developing a screen test to identify patients' responses to the anti-epileptic drug, Clobazam.
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