MSc in Precision Medicine

Genomics and precision medicine represents a growing area of science and medicine. A greater understanding of the role a person’s genes, behaviours and environment plays in their general health is becoming an increasingly important part of the global healthcare and biomedical research ecosystem.

Upskilling and diversifying the skillsets of a generation of life scientists, biomedical scientists and healthcare professionals to effectively understand utilize this data driven approach is essential to realizing this transformation. Students will be taught the fundamentals of clinical and translational research, applications in clinical diagnostics and Biomarker development and how precision medicine is being applied in the areas of oncology, drug development and infectious disease. Introductory modules in translational bioinformatics and biostatistics have been added to provide students new to these areas with interdisciplinary skill sets to draw insights and value from precision medicine data and to communicate their findings across different domains. The program will be delivered by clinical and scientific experts from UCD, experienced Bioinformaticians and computer scientists, statisticians and experts in public health as well as industry leaders in precision medicine. This programme is applicable to life sciences graduates and healthcare professionals, wishing to pursue careers in industry, academia and in clinical settings.

We envision the MSc programme to be structured into a series of core and optional strands composed of 5 and 10 credit modules coupled with a 30-credit research project.

The program will be offered as a Graduate Diploma for students completing 60 credits worth of taught modules without carrying out the 30-credit project.

This structure which combines clinical and translational research, diagnostics and biomarker development, applications in the areas of oncology, drug discovery, and infectious disease and introductory data analysis skills allied to their application in industry and clinically relevant areas will cater for a broad audience while providing graduates with excellent career opportunities.