Manchester Genomic Centre praised for leading the way

Manchester Genomics Service, part of Saint Mary’s Hospital, was delighted to welcome to Manchester yesterday Professor Dame Sue Hill, Chief Scientific Officer at NHS England and Professor Mark Caulfield, Chief Scientist at Genomics England to celebrate Greater Manchester’s contribution to the 100k Genome Project.
Reflecting on how the Manchester Genomic Centre was the first UK centre to recruit a patient to the 100k Genome Project, Prof Hill congratulated the Centre on its contribution to a UK wide achievement of 97,993 samples of DNA being collected over a three year period.
She said Manchester stood out for its systematic approach to education and training to raise awareness of the Genome Project in clinical areas, as well as its approach to patient and public engagement, its effective integration of genomic medicine into clinical pathways and its work through cancer champions to enhance recruitment. Through its work on the project, the Centre has collected over 5,500 samples from participants with rare diseases and cancer.
Manchester was one of 13 centres which took part in the three-year long 100k Genome Project and is now hosting one of seven confirmed national Genomic Laboratory Hubs to accelerate new ways of working to deliver the new NHS Genomic Medicine Service.