Vision
Precision medicine offers business, clinical and social opportunities for a range of stakeholders. It is not only of interest to scientists and medical professionals, but provides a clear space for industry, academic, health charities, the NHS and governments to collaborate to tackle the significant healthcare challenges that we face.
The Clinical Innovation Zone enables industry to be co-located with the University of Glasgow’s internationally renowned researchers in state-of the-art facilities to support the development of better, more targeted and tailored healthcare solutions for both economic and patient benefit.
This Zone is transforming the management of chronic diseases globally by accelerating biomedical research through open innovation approaches, resulting in high quality health care provision and economic growth.
Located on the new £1billion Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Campus the Clinical Innovation Zone provides state of the art clinical and academic facilities. Tenants benefit from our ‘triple helix’ approach to open innovation through access to world-leading academic researchers and facilities in order to drive our agenda for improved, efficient patient care and economic benefit.
With funding from various sources including Glasgow City Region City Deal, the Clinical Innovation Zone is driving city wide regeneration activities. These include increased local economic and employment activities and physical regeneration through the Waterfront and West End Innovation Quarter development.
Building success using the triple helix model
Over the past two years, we have rapidly expanded our co-located tenant organisations, which range from start-ups and spinouts to major corporate partners. Co-located organisations are engaging with academic and clinical partners across not only the QEUH campus, but up to six distinct University of Glasgow locations.
Building on this activity the University of Glasgow was chosen by the UK Government to lead a Science and Innovation Audit. This audit ‘Innovation in Scotland: Accelerating Productivity Growth for Scotland and the UK’ maps Scotland’s research, innovation and infrastructure strengths in precision medicine to identify the opportunities for inward investment and regional growth. The CIZ has become an anchor location for a much wider innovation lead investment strategy planned across the city of Glasgow, which will include a series of customized collaborative spaces for industry partners, start-ups and spin-outs to work alongside Glasgow’s world class academics.
Driving economic and physical regeneration across three Innovation Districts, Glasgow City Council and Scottish Enterprise, plan to work closely with University of Glasgow to develop the Waterfront and West End Innovation Quarter, which will further integrate CIZ research with the University’s £1billion major West End campus redevelopment, which includes the site of the former Western Infirmary. This increased connectivity of innovation will be physically embodied in a new bridge spanning the River Clyde, directly linking Govan and Partick, greatly benefitting local communities on both banks of the river.
Shaping the precision medicine landscape
In autumn 2015, the UK Government announced regional Science and Innovation Audits (SIAs) to catalyse a new approach to regional economic development. SIAs enable local consortia to focus on analysing regional strengths and identify mechanisms to realise their potential. In Scotland, a consortium was formed in 2017 to focus on our strengths in Precision Medicine. This report presents the results which includes a broad-ranging analysis of Scotland’s capabilities, the challenges and the substantial opportunities for future economic growth.
The report demonstrates that the further development and adoption of Precision Medicine could potentially be transformative for the Scottish and UK life science clusters, developing expertise and know-how that can be exported around the world through new technologies, products, services and behaviours. Indeed, one of the key drivers for the audit has been the recognition across consortium members that Scotland is extremely well positioned to unlock the exciting and substantial productivity growth opportunities associated with Precision Medicine.
KEY MESSAGES
- Scotland has the academic and clinical excellence, business expertise and supporting ecosystem to support the development and implementation of Precision Medicine.
- In recent years, Scotland has built strong foundations and invested heavily in its Ecosystem for Precision Medicine.
- The University of Glasgow brought together a high calibre consortium of public and private partners from across Scotland and international experts to produce a Science and Innovation Audit focused on the opportunities of Precision Medicine in Scotland.
- Partners are committed to helping Scotland become a global centre of excellence for the implementation of Precision Medicine over the next 10 years.
The growth and development of Scotland – and indeed the wider UK’s – Precision Medicine ecosystem and associated digital and life science clusters, is only one of many economic benefits. Implementation of Precision Medicine will help our NHS to generate significant savings at a time when it is struggling to meet increasing demand from an ageing population. Analysis shows that Precision Medicine generated innovations could help deliver billions of pounds of healthcare cost savings. Furthermore, more effective targeted treatments and better prevention of disease will create a healthier and more productive UK workforce.
|
|
“The adoption of precision medicine has the potential to be transformative for the people in Scotland, through improved diagnostics and patient treatment. That is why precision medicine has been a priority for the Scottish Government for more than five years, and I am pleased that this Science and Innovation Audit (SIA) recognises the many strengths and capabilities Scotland has in this field”.For further information on the SIA:
https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/beacons/precisionmedicine/sia/
Achievements
Our awards
UK Science Park Association ‘Setting the Pace’
The University of Glasgow’s Clinical Innovation Zone (CIZ) has been successful in winning the ‘location - setting the pace’ category at the UK Science Park (UKSPA) Awards 2019; a recognition reflective of the economic growth benefits for Glasgow and future health innovation for the people of Scotland and beyond.
The UKSPA Awards recognise and celebrate the achievements and activities of its members and the impact which they, and their tenant companies, have made to local, national and international economies and communities.
The ‘location - setting the pace’ category reflects successful outcomes from exceptional facilities, good management, innovative practices and high-quality tenant support.
Industry and Business Award (2017)
The University, led by the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences (MVLS), won the Industry and Business Award for its outstanding contribution to encourage, inspire and foster business growth and development in the city.
The University was recognised for its many innovative achievements at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH), including the creation of the new Clinical Innovation Zone (CIZ) and the opening of the new Imaging Centre of Excellence (ICE).
Collaboration for Change Award (2017)
The University of Glasgow, led by the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences (MVLS) won the Collaboration for Change Award, which recognises the College’s role in transforming healthcare innovation through the development and implementation of precision medicine, an emerging approach which enables doctors and researchers to identify and develop treatments that are effective for specific groups of patients.
The Collaboration for Change award recognises the University’s ‘triple helix’ approach to precision medicine: partnering with industry and the NHS to create a thriving new biomedical innovation cluster at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH).