Birmingham entrepreneurs Abdullah Sabyah and Floriane Rousse-Marquet are launching a remote heart health screening service through their company Rightangled Diagnostics.
The unique screening service provided by Rightangled was developed and tested at the BioHub Birmingham®, the University of Birmingham’s bioincubator facility for high growth life science start-up companies.
It is the first product to emerge from the innovation incubator, which was opened at the Birmingham Research Park in 2015. The University set up the facility as a launch-pad for entrepreneurs to make their project in the sciences real.
Rightangled’s Heart DNA screening service aims to remove the constraints around accessing qualified specialists by linking patients, heart specialists and genetic screening in a remote, online service.
A report is provided by the cardiologist who reviews the results of the screen together with a questionnaire asking about lifestyle and family history – which is often the spur for concern about heart health.
This report is not intended to replace a personal consultation with a doctor, and people whose screen shows up areas of concern are advised to take the report to their own doctor, where the report could be used to inform decisions on treatment and lifestyle changes.
Abdullah Sabyah, who founded the company with Floriane Rousse-Marquet, said: “Often people know that there is a family history of heart problems, and this drives a very real concern about unidentified hereditary risk factors, which play a large part in determining your heart health. It is important to realise that these measures, if taken in advance, can reduce these risks in most cases to near-normal.”
The service delivers a personalised report based on a cardiologist’s assessment of a lifestyle questionnaire and a screen of 96 genetic markers which can help uncover how an individual’s DNA is impacting heart health and how their genetics may alter their body’s response to certain diets, nutrients and medications.
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Ruth Ashton, [email protected], tel: 0121 414 9090
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How the test was developed
The two entrepreneurs worked with the incubator services provided by the University of Birmingham. They did six months of early research at the BioHub Birmingham®, a bioincubator facility at the Birmingham Research Park, and also used the business incubation services at the BizzInn, which provides business coaching for young enterprises.
The services provided at the BioHub, and the assistance provided by the BizzInn, enabled the pair to developed their original concept to one that would link together genetic screening, lifestyle advice and a remote consultation with a medical specialist.
How the Heart DNA screening service works
• A kit is ordered online, and delivered by post.
• The recipient then registers online, fills in a family history and lifestyle questionnaire, and posts a sample of saliva in the sample tube provided in the kit.
• The sample is analysed in a laboratory where DNA is extracted to generate the unique cardiac genetic profile.
• The genetic profile and the lifestyle questionnaire are assessed by the cardiologist, who provides a written report highlighting any areas of concern.
• The report is made available in a secure online portal. It can be downloaded, or printed out for the individual to take with them to their next doctor’s appointment.
The screening kit can be ordered online at www.heartdnatest.com.
About the BioHub Birmingham®
The BioHub Birmingham® was opened in 2015 to provide bioincubator space for young life science companies. It is based in the Birmingham Research Park. Residents at the BioHub Birmingham can also use the coaching available at the BizzInn, which provides tailored business support for entrepreneurs and small businesses.
The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions, its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers and teachers and more than 5,000 international students from over 150 countries.