The Yorkshire and Humber NHS Genomic Medicine Centre has won a sought-after regional award for helping to spread vital knowledge about the ‘100,000 Genomes Project’.
The team picked up the top prize in the ‘Best Example of Adoption and Diffusion’ award at the Yorkshire and Humber Academic Health Science Network’s Innovation, Improvement & Impact Awards.
The ‘100,000 Genomes Project’ aims to find vital clues about the complex genetic changes which cause cancer and rare diseases through the sequencing of genomes, or the full blueprint of a person’s DNA.
This process – which two decades ago would have taken ten years to complete – could lead to a better understanding of how cancers and rare diseases developing, improving diagnosis and paving the way for the development of targeted therapies and treatments.
To date over 500 people living in the Yorkshire and Humber, including cancer patients and families living with rare diseases, have signed up to the project.
Dr Gill Wilson, Programme Manager for the Yorkshire and Humber Genomic Medicine Centre, said: “The Yorkshire and Humber Genomic Centre has had a fantastic first year, recruiting over 500 participants to the project and setting up vital processes to facilitate a complex area of scientific innovation. This award is great recognition of our work so far and a testament to the impact the 100,000 Genomes programme could have on the future direction of healthcare.”
The Yorkshire and Humber NHS Genomic Medicine Centre is a joint collaboration between Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust working closely with all 22 NHS health trusts in the region supported by the Yorkshire and Humber Academic Health Science Network.
If you or a family member are living with a rare inherited disease and are interested in taking part in the 100,000 Genomes Project contact your clinical consultant to discuss further or visit our getting involved page for further information.