£15m boost for medical research

Up to 100 jobs will be created by the projects

Funding of almost £15.5m has been announced for medical research which may create up to 100 jobs in Scotland.

The cash will support 39 research projects covering areas such as cardiovascular and metabolic disease and women's health.

The new investment builds on almost £8m of funding released in December 2006 to support 28 research projects.

Four of Scotland's leading universities are involved in the collaboration with American pharmaceutical firm Wyeth.

Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow universities are taking part in the project, which also brings in Scottish Enterprise and NHS Grampian, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Lothian and NHS Tayside.

We are all firmly focused on delivering valuable patient benefits and shared commercial success for all partners Professor Andrew Morris TMRC steering group

The projects involved in the Translational Medicine Research Collaboration (TMRC) will also focus on the central nervous system, inflammation and oncology.

A central research laboratory, based at the University of Dundee, will work with centres of excellence in each of the four universities' medical schools.

The first phase of the project created more than 100 new jobs, with a similar number to be created during the second phase.

Professor Andrew Morris, chairman of the TMRC steering group, said: "The spirit of collaboration between the partners continues to build, and we are all firmly focused on delivering valuable patient benefits and shared commercial success for all partners."

Frank Walsh, executive vice president of Wyeth Discovery Research, said: "The latest round of projects is likely to generate meaningful scientific data which will have a real impact on the quality of new therapies being developed as well as the speed with which we can deliver these to patients."

Translational medicine focuses research on new tests, called biomarkers, for the diagnosis and monitoring of human diseases.

Biomarkers are new proteins which can be measured in blood samples or X-rays of patients.

They can be used to follow the progress and response to the treatment of patients with a wide range of conditions, including heart attacks, cancer, depression and osteoporosis.