Ground-breaking advances in bioengineering (biotechnology and computational biology) and biomedical research are fuelling our ability to assess disease treatment and prevention, taking into account an individual’s variability in genes, environment and lifestyle. This bioengineering approach is resulting in an era of more precise medicine, though it has so far been primarily applied to diseases affecting adults. The BRCCH therefore seeks to support bioengineering-based advances in precision medicine and to foster its application to health challenges in young people, especially those in LMICs.
Bioengineering-enabled precision medicine will provide a more accurate prediction of which treatment and prevention strategy for a particular disease will work in which groups of young people. To harness the power of precision medicine, the BRCCH will specifically invest in innovative bioengineering technologies to achieve this goal. Areas that are of interest to the BRCCH include the creation of novel platforms that support cost-effective, multi-modal approaches in order to collect large-scale diagnostic and therapeutic data sets; the new development of in vitro-based technologies that provide minimally invasive yet efficient diagnostic opportunities for present and emerging diseases; and the design and manufacture of advanced bio-therapeutics as an effective means of preventing and treating diseases.
