Researchers from the University's Centre for Drug Safety Science (CDSS),Liverpool signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) to formalize a partnership with the Shandong Provincial Institute of Dermatology and Venereology (SPIDV) in Jinan, China, to form a joint research center.
The CDSS continues to advance patient safety by deepening the understanding of adverse drug reactions and the mechanisms underlying them.
The new research centre will act as a collaborative space between the two institutions through resource sharing, co-development of research projects on drug safety, and mobilization of funds aligned to the focus areas of the centre, besides providing support towards student and postgraduate trainee development. This endeavour will help foster long-term sustainable research collaborations of mutual benefit and strengthen collaboration between both institutions in drug safety science.
The Liverpool-Shandong partnership was initiated in 2018 following an international exchange scheme award from the Royal Society to explore the mechanistic basis of dapsone hypersensitivity in patients with leprosy.
The University of Liverpool’s Professor Dean Naisbitt was then awarded a distinguished visiting professor by Shandong First Medical University (SDFMU). In 2019, researchers from both institutions were jointly awarded an overseas talent programme to study adverse reactions that target individuals of different ethnic backgrounds. This allowed the team from Liverpool to conduct research on clinical samples that are otherwise unavailable or at a scale unattainable to UK researchers.
The talent programme has been running since 2019, and the collaboration has led to over £2M of research funding and nine joint publications. Over the next three years, the team will continue to collaborate on joint activities including research experiments, staff exchange and joint publications.
Professor Dean Naisbitt from the University of Liverpool’s Centre for Drug Safety Science said: “I am absolutely delighted to establish a joint Centre between Liverpool and Jinan. The agreement provides unique shared access to clinical samples and technologies to explore the mechanistic basis of adverse drug reactions. Outcomes from studies will directly benefit patients suffering from life-threatening adverse drug reactions and support future grant applications for joint UK-China research initiatives. I also look forward to taking an active role in training research scholars through staff and student exchanges”.
The University of Liverpool’s Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, which houses the CDSS, is one of the oldest and largest in the UK, has an international reputation for understanding all aspects of drug actions from designing and creating novel drugs, running clinical trials on new drugs, through to improving the use of existing drugs.
For its excellent work to improve the safety and effectiveness of medicines, the department was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2017, one of the most prestigious awards in higher education.
Shandong Provincial Institute of Dermatology and Venereology (SPIDV) is affiliated to Shandong First Medical University. The Institute is a pioneer in research into the best treatments of leprosy and venereal disease control. With its excellent reputation in the field of skin disease diagnosis and treatment, SPIDV has become a referral centre for the treatment of difficult and critical skin diseases in the province and surrounding provinces, including leprosy, hereditary diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, autoimmune bullous diseases, psoriasis, and severe drug eruptions. The Institute has been awarded the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award, and the first prize of the Shandong Province Natural Science Award.
