Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Vaccines

This theme advances the full pipeline from discovery to delivery, connecting laboratory science, engineering and data analytics with clinical trials and real‑world implementation. 

Research spans novel diagnostic and surveillance tools, drug and vaccine development and testing, and precision/personalised approaches that tailor prevention and treatment to patients and populations.

Smarter diagnostics

A central strand of the work focuses on developing faster, more accurate diagnostic tools. Researchers are advancing point-of-care testing, molecular diagnostics, and novel biosensors to enable earlier and more targeted treatment decisions — particularly in the context of antimicrobial stewardship. Work ranges from waterborne pathogen detection and corneal infection diagnosis to molecular epidemiology of viruses and next-generation sequencing approaches for clinical settings.

Vaccines and therapies

Edinburgh researchers are pursuing diverse therapeutic strategies across multiple disease areas. These include targeting inflammatory pathways in respiratory diseases such as COPD, bronchiectasis and ARDS; identifying drug targets in liver disease, autoimmune conditions and endometriosis; and exploiting bacterial biology to develop regenerative therapies. Computational and machine-learning tools are increasingly used to accelerate drug discovery and identify patient subgroups most likely to benefit from specific treatments.

Vaccine development spans both human and veterinary medicine. Clinical trials of typhoid and non-typhoidal Salmonella vaccines have directly informed global policy, while parallel programmes are developing vaccines against veterinary pathogens — including gastrointestinal parasites, zoonotic infections and pig pathogens — with implications for food security and public health.

Bench-to-bedside

A strong clinical research community within NHS Lothian complements the laboratory sciences, with consultants leading work on antimicrobial stewardship, fungal infections, tuberculosis, HIV, and high-consequence infectious diseases. Together, these strands create a uniquely integrated research environment translating scientific discovery into direct patient benefit.

Case management, infection prevention strategies and therapeutic care practices are evaluated alongside health‑systems performance, governance and equity. 

Social context

Social, ethical and cultural dimensions of development, uptake and trust are embedded throughout to ensure innovations are effective, acceptable and accessible. Partnerships with public, policy and industry stakeholders strengthen translation and impact across diverse settings.