Biomarkers (WP2)
Work package lead (dry biomarkers) - Dr Robert Kerslake
Work package lead (wet biomarkers) - Dr Ali Mobasheri
Work package lead (experimental models) - Prof Mark Lewis
Biomarkers allow healthcare professionals to diagnose illness, measure its progress and monitor reactions to treatment.
Aims:
- To establish how osteoarthritis develops
- To assess whether the process can be monitored and/or measured
- To develop intermediate measures of outcome for clinical trials
Important biomarkers in medicine include:
- Biomarkers that help us to diagnose illness
- Biomarkers that help us to predict illness
- Biomarkers that help us to look at a patient’s physical condition.
There are many different biomarkers including, for example:
- Vital signs (such as pulse rate, temperature and breathing)
- Serum electrolytes (these are in your blood, other body fluids and the air you breathe out. They carry an electric charge and control parts of yopur body like the heart and muscles)
- Radiographs and other types of images (ways of taking pictures of the body, such as x-rays and scans)
In health research we try to check and understand biomarkers. We can use them to try and tell how quickly disease might move on. We can also check how patients react to drugs and other types of treatment. Biomarkers help healthcare professionals to find the right treatment for a patient. For example, biomarkers that look at the effects of drugs can help to improve how effective those drugs are, reduce any side-effects, find the right doses and check results (both good and bad).
Biomarkers in Sport:
Biomarkers can be used to help athletes and trainers improve health, training and diet. They can also be used to check how people react to their treatments after injury