MRC Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh

与生殖系统和生殖过程有关的异常在现代社会中很常见，对男性和女性都有影响。它们给许多人造成了巨大的身体和心理负担。他们还对英国的医疗体系和经济产生了巨大的影响。几个具有代表性的例子包括：子宫内膜异位症，在英国，每10名育龄妇女中就有一人患有子宫内膜异位症，每年导致英国经济损失82亿英镑；死产--英国每年有3600多名死产婴儿，每200名新生儿中就有一名死于死产；卵巢癌，仅在英国就导致近12名妇女每天死亡。重要的是，生殖健康问题往往与吸烟和肥胖等生活方式因素有关，但这些联系并不完全清楚。医学研究理事会-爱丁堡生殖健康中心(MRC-CRH)是总部设在英国的唯一一家生殖健康/生物学中心，汇集了生殖系统和生殖过程的健康、生物学和病理学方面的基础科学家、诊断专家和临床医生，从基因和分子到基于人群的研究和生活方式与疾病的联系。该中心位于世界著名的女王医学研究所，紧邻爱丁堡皇家医院(由NHS Lothian经营的爱丁堡大学医学院的教学医院)、其他几个顶级研究机构和一个商业化孵化器(Edinburgh BioQuarter)。这优化了资源的使用，增加了跨学科合作，并加强了商业化活动。在过去5年里，该中心的员工数量和研究产出都大幅增长，并证明了其对社会的价值，例如，一项关于孕酮治疗早产效率的“权宜之计”研究，仅在英国就阻止了1.1万名患者接受痛苦的无效治疗，每年为NHS节省2500万英镑。在接下来的五年里，我们打算在过去成就的基础上，提高MRC-CRH研究/教育的潜力和中心的基础设施。该项目的主要目的是(I)巩固和加强MRC-CRH的科学活动，(Ii)加强中心的教育作用，以及(Iii)加强中心研究人员和学生与患者、医生和公众的互动，提高对生殖健康状况和与我们的研究相关的其他主题的认识。MRC的资金将用于：(A)购买专门的设备，以提高研究能力，并为未来的研究开辟新的前沿(显微注射和卵母细胞处理、复杂的干扰和荧光显微镜)；(B)招聘必要的成像技术、数据库管理/生物信息学和科学通信方面的专家人员，以维持/扩大我们的研究能力和外展活动；(C)为临床和非临床科学家建立高质量的生殖健康/生物学博士课程。我们的雄心是通过再提供五年MRC资金，保持和扩大我们在新领域的世界级研究，包括生殖道癌、生活方式(肥胖、吸烟等)关于生殖健康和生殖系统的增生性疾病。我们的目标是，我们的发现将在全国人民的整个一生中影响他们的健康和福祉。这种健康状况的改善将对个人、家庭和整个社会产生重大影响，并带来显著的经济效益。

Abnormalities associated with reproductive system and reproductive processes are common in modern society affecting both man and women. They result in major physical and psychological burden on many individuals. They also have huge impact on UK health system and economy. A few representative examples include: endometriosis which affects 1 in 10 women of reproductive age in the UK and cost the UK economy £8.2 billion a year in treatment, loss of work and healthcare costs; stillbirth - there are more than 3,600 stillbirths every year in the UK, and one in every 200 births ends in a stillbirth; and ovarian cancer that in UK alone kills nearly 12 women every day. Importantly, reproductive health problems are often linked to lifestyle factors such as smoking and obesity, but these links are not completely understood. The Medical Research Council - Centre for Reproductive Health in Edinburgh (MRC-CRH) is the only UK-based reproductive health/biology centre that brings together basic scientists, diagnosticians and clinicians specialising in health, biology and pathology of reproductive system and reproductive processes at all levels: from genes and molecules to population based studies and lifestyle-disease links. The Centre is located in the world-renowned Queen's Medical Research Institute in the direct proximity of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (a teaching hospital for the University of Edinburgh Medical School run by NHS Lothian), a few other top class research institutions and a commercialisation incubator (Edinburgh BioQuarter). This optimises the use of resources, increases interdisciplinary collaborations and enhances commercialisation activities. Over the past five years the Centre grew significantly in both staff numbers and its research output and proved its value to society, for example, a single "STOPPIT" study on efficiency of progesterone treatment in preterm birth prevented 11,000 patients from painful ineffective treatment in the UK alone saving NHS £25M annually. Within the next five years we intend to build on our past achievements to boost MRC-CRH research/education potential and infrastructure of the Centre. The main aims of this project are to (i) consolidate and reinforce MRC-CRH scientific activities, (ii) increase the Centre's educational role, and (iii) enhance interactions of the Centre's investigators and students with patients, medical practitioners and general public, rising awareness about reproductive health conditions and other topics related to our research. MRC funds will be used to (a) purchase specialised equipment that will increase research capability and open new frontiers for future investigations (micro-injection and oocyte handling, sophisticated interference and fluorescent microscopy), (b) recruit necessary expert personnel in imaging technology, database management/bioinformatics and scientific communication to sustain/expand our research capacity and outreach activities, (c) establish a top quality PhD programme in reproductive health/biology for clinical and non-clinical scientists.It is our ambition through another five years of MRC funding to maintain and expand our world-class research into new areas including cancers of the reproductive tract, the effects of life-style (obesity, smoking etc.) on reproductive health and proliferative disorders of the reproductive system. It is our aim that our discoveries will impact the health and well-being of the Nation's population through their entire life-span. This improvement in health will have significant consequences for individuals, families and the society in general with noticeable economic benefits.