Professor Susan Rosser, University of Edinburgh

Most diseases are treated with “one size fits all” systemic therapies which is problematic because the differences between individual patients and constantly changing disease states mean that the timing, location and dosage of administered therapeutics is often suboptimal. To combat this there is an urgent need for a more personalized, customized treatment model. Professor Rosser aims to make a step change in personalized medicine by engineering cells that can simultaneously combine precise diagnosis of a disease with a targeted therapeutic intervention in a closed loop control circuit that prevents the disease developing or provides a cure. The goal would be to have implantable or circulating sentinel cells that could recognize disease related changes and biomarkers, process the information and then produce an appropriate therapeutic molecule (e.g. an antibody or drug) in the correct concentration to treat the disease before it develops or progresses. The ultimate long-term aim is not to just to treat disease but to maintain wellness via implants in healthy populations that prevent the initiation of illness, promoting disease free longevity with the subsequent huge benefits both socially and economically.