Many of the medicines used to treat children have been designed
for adults, and have not been properly tested on the young.
Health professionals use their skill and judgement when
prescribing medicines for children but uncertainty can result in
inappropriate dosing or inadequate efficacy. The initiative will
take the development of children's medicines to a new level,
with the establishment of a national research network to
undertake important clinical studies into the safety and
effectiveness of medicines for children. The University will
become the Co-ordinating Centre for this new network, to be
based at the Institute of Child Health at Alder Hey site. The UK
Medicines For Children Research Network will enable the
development of a wide variety of drugs for children, including
those for the prevention and treatment of diseases affecting
newborns and children on intensive care. Researchers will work
towards developing treatments for a range of diseases in
children such as meningitis, asthma, epilepsy and mig