Professor Jon Cohen, Dean of BSMS said:
"It is a great credit to Professor Mukhopadhyay that his work has been given such high profile through this programme.
BSMS is committed to developing research where we believe we can make a rapid and real difference, and to deliver a more personalised healthcare to patients.
This work exploring a genetic link to the effectiveness of asthma drugs will one day improve patient care. It is an excellent example of the range of research we are undertaking at BSMS".
BSMS researcher profiled on primetime TV
February 10, 2011 at 3:26 PM
BSMS Chair in Paediatrics, Professor Somnath Mukhopadhyay recently appeared as an expert on the primetime television programme, How Science Changed our World.
In this programme, Professor Robert Winston presented his top ten scientific breakthroughs of the past 50 years, including the microchip, the contraceptive pill, medical imaging, lasers and discovery of the human genome.
It was subject of the exploration of the human genome, which led Professor Mukhopadhyay to contribute to this programme. The programme profiled two sisters who both suffer from asthma, and are currently outpatients at the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital. One sister does not respond effectively to the commonest asthma medicine but the other does. Professor Mukhopadhyay's research has found evidence to suggest that there may well be a genetic link to why one sister does not respond so well.
His research work aims to develop personalised treatment in children's asthma so that children do not receive poorly effective or unnecessary treatment that can be prevented by appropriate profiling. He says "I have led work in this area from an early stage describing the problem of poor medicine efficacy, in response to one of the commonest medicines in children with asthma who are genetically susceptible, and subsequently performing follow-up studies to show that treatment choice on the basis of genotype makes a difference to the management of children's asthma".
Professor Mukhopadhyay was pleased to contribute to the programme. He sees it as "an independent assessment of important, ground-breaking research. Our Medical School is young but very ambitious, and an important aim is to be able to lead research that advances the frontiers of medicine and reaches the highest standards of excellence. It is satisfying to find that research led by BSMS is described alongside the work of top researchers as contributing to major scientific advances".
Professor Jon Cohen, Dean of BSMS, said:
"It is a great credit to Professor Mukhopadhyay that his work has been given such high profile through this programme. BSMS is committed to developing research where we believe we can make a rapid and real difference, and to deliver a more personalised healthcare to patients. This work exploring a genetic link to the effectiveness of asthma drugs will one day improve patient care. It is an excellent example of the range of research we are undertaking at BSMS".
Duncan Selbie, Chief Executive of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals says:
"Professor Mukhopadhyay's work on childhood allergy and asthma demonstrates how our hospitals work hand in hand with our partner medical school to host cutting edge research and innovation for the benefit for patients."