The application to participate in the competition was filed in July 2019. The competition is held by the Russian Ministry of Science and Education as part of Science national project and the Federal Programme for the Development of Genetic Technologies for 2019–2027.
Along with Almazov Centre, the consortium comprises Saint Petersburg Chemical Pharmaceutical University, Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Education, National Research Centre for Preventive Medicine, National Medical Research Centre for Radiology, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology SB RAS, Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University LETI.
The genomic centre programme of the consortium is aimed at reducing morbidity and mortality from various diseases based on the development and implementation of advanced genomic technologies, including technologies for assessing genetic risks, pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics, biomodeling of diseases, modifying the genome, creating drugs for gene therapy and biomedical cell products using genome editing technologies.
The task of the centre for medical genomic research in St. Petersburg is to create a biomedical research ecosystem and a set of competence centres for medical genomic research, as well as the infrastructure for joint implementation of research projects and their results in healthcare practice.
There are plans to develop a line of products for the diagnosis and treatment of genetic disorders and conduct their preclinical and early clinical trials, build the infrastructure and ensure pilot implementation of genetic technologies in health care, including the genetic risk assessment for personalized treatment and disease prevention. The centre is supposed to ensure the development of innovative educational technologies for the training of specialists in genetic technologies and processing of genomic data, and will also become a platform for professional growth and mobility for young scientists in the field of genetic technologies.
The programme of the centre for genomic research is based on the fundamental and practical work in six most relevant areas of modern medicine: NCDs of a polygenic nature, congenital and genetic disorders, cancers, immuno-inflammatory diseases, microbiology/microbiotics, neurodegenerative diseases and aging. For each area, members of the consortium will carry out fundamental research, publish the results in WOS journals, develop new bioinformatics tools for genomic data, create several world-class biobanks
Twelve business partners, including the leading Russian biotechnology companies and experts in bioinformatics, supported the application.
The results of the competition for the establishment of world-class scientific centres, including a network of global mathematical centres and genomic research centres, will be announced in September.