World-leading research

Academics and PhD researchers at the University of St Andrews' School of Medicine are driving societal change ranging from early diagnosis of disease to end-of-life care through innovative ideas and interdisciplinary collaboration.

We want to foster those concepts that could change – and save – lives. We want to share knowledge and enhance skills to facilitate the early diagnosis of disease, putting families at the heart of all that we do. 

In the fields of early and rapid diagnosis, researchers at St Andrews are:

• catching cancer
• preserving fertility
• diagnosing dementia
• saving sight.

Other key research areas at the University include:

• unlocking the genetic puzzle of Dyslexia
• rapid diagnosis of Tuberculosis in low- and middle-income countries
• decoding Diabetes
• addiction research
• patient end-of-life care.

The University of St Andrews is also home to research centres of excellence including the Global Research Centre for Neonatal Sepsis, the Centre for Evidence and Values in Healthcare, and the Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciences.

Interdisciplinary collaborations

The School of Medicine has well-established medical research collaborations with the Schools of Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Divinity, and Computer Science, which is internationally renowned for its specialisms in machine learning and artificial intelligence and will be housed in the Digital Nexus building.

Partnerships have also been created with the Schools of Geography, Mathematics, and Psychology and Neuroscience. These relationships have opened new avenues of investigation into health data research, advanced digital diagnostics, biophotonics in early diagnosis, and the discovery of novel biomarkers of early human disease.

Our contribution

World-leading academic work is under way at the University of St Andrews and, together, we will make our mark on the future of medicine.

How you can support us

Scholarships enable talented PhD researchers to carry out their work at St Andrews in fields that can change and save lives. We want to support brilliant young scientists from around the world.

We want to endow prestigious academic Chairs to continue to attract eminent experts in their fields to St Andrews.

We want to purchase state-of-the-art laboratory equipment and host key research meetings to bring the greatest medical minds together.

Research from St Andrews can help shape future of medicine. Please join us in making that future available for everyone.

Research in action at the University's School of Medicine

Medical students in the lab at St Andrews