The organisation and diffusion of translational research:
Can cardiovascular medicine learn from oncology? Case studies of pharmacogenomics in the NHS
Project description
This is an ESRC-funded collaborative project between the University of Manchester, the University of Liverpool and the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool. It sets out to identify the critical factors affecting the adoption of pharmacogenetics/genomics (PGx) as part of the treatment regime for cardiovascular diseases in the NHS.
Previous studies have shown that while there has been tremendous investment in early-stage research in PGx, less investment has been given to the translation and implementation of new knowledge in clinical and health decision-making across the NHS. Cardiovascular diseases are the most common causes of mortality in the UK, and the study will specifically look at the extent to which such genetic knowledge is being used at present across the NHS.
The context of the study is Personalised Medicine. Integrating PGx knowledge in clinical practice contributes to the personalisation of therapies by ascertaining diagnostically drug appropriateness, effectiveness and risks associated with therapies, such as over/underdosing or adverse reactions on the basis of genetic biomarkers.
Such a situation is of particular interest to innovation studies, given the discipline’s focus on how to translate research knowledge into useful applications and how these useful applications are implemented and disseminated.
Adverse drug reactions alone cost the NHS about £1Bn annually. Yet, despite the wide-ranging benefits, the diffusion of PGx knowledge and its uptake within some medical specialties, such as cardiovascular medicine, remains poor.
Our research contrasts and seeks to understand the increasing use of PGx in oncology with the relatively poor uptake in cardiovascular medicine in the UK. This is especially interesting since some paradigmatic lessons in developing the PGx field have direct implications for the treatment of patients with heart and circulatory diseases.
Our approach is longitudinal and focuses on studying the establishment of new processes, potentially engendering organisational changes and novel innovation management practices to ease PGx adoption within the cardiovascular domain and more widely in the NHS for the ultimate benefit of the medical practice and of patients.
Project team
- Dr Ronnie Ramlogan (PI), Dr Dimitri Gagliardi (PI) and Dr Abisope Akintola (RA) – MIOIR, Alliance Manchester Business School
- Professor Bernard Keavney and Dr Luigi Venetucci – School of Medical Sciences, the University of Manchester; Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed and Dr Cinzia Dello Russo – Institute of Translational Medicine, the University of Liverpool; Dr Anna Olsson-Brown Consultant Medical Oncologist – Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Trust, Liverpool.