RECENT NEWS

IBMS President Ian Sturdgess joined the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, MPs and scientists in Parliament recently to present the Silver Award in Biological and Biomedical Sciences at SET for Britain 2016.

New data from four studies demonstrate that post-prandial hyperglycaemia is associated with a negative physical and emotional impact on people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, greater use of healthcare resources, missed work time and reduced productivity. These results were presented recently at the World Diabetes Congress of the International Diabetes Federation.

Dr David Bennett, former head of NHS Foundation Trust regulator Monitor, has been appointed the new Chair of Viapath, the pathology joint venture owned by Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital and Serco.

An international team of scientists has reported important results using patients' own immune cells to fight cancer. In one trial, symptoms disappeared in 94% of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. In other types of blood cancer, response rates over 80% have been reported, and over half experienced complete remission.

www.nih.gov

An Introduction to Clinical Anaerobic Bacteriology is a special guide that enables readers to isolate and identify 12 commonly occurring, clinically important anaerobic bacteria. Don Whitley Scientific is offering UK-based readers a free copy of the Library Edition of this publication. To apply for your free copy, please email the company or log on to its website and complete the contact form.

Rainin TerraRack pipette tip racks have achieved success in last year’s Green Apple Awards. The judges recognised the environmental benefits of this product range – which is designed to minimise the problem of plastic tip rack waste – selecting TerraRack from a field of more than 500 entries to receive a Bronze Award for Environmental Best Practice. The award was presented to EU market manager Ian Eaton-Taylor at a ceremony held at the Houses of Parliament last November.

An internationally renowned gene therapy research team has won a $200,000 CytoFLEX flow cytometer from Beckman Coulter Life Sciences. The contest was designed to explore innovative research solutions involving flow cytometry. The winning team, headed by Dr Martin Pulé, is from the UCL Cancer Institute at University College London.

Neil Bentley, head of Specialist Microbiology Technical Services at Public Health England (PHE), has been awarded an OBE for Services to Public Health in the New Year's Honours, which is well-deserved recognition of his contribution to public health in the UK and overseas.

A study undertaken in Sweden has shown that a new test for prostate cancer is better at detecting aggressive cancer than prostate-specific antigen (PSA). The new test, which has undergone trial in 58,818 men, discovered aggressive cancer earlier and reduced the number of false-positive tests and unnecessary biopsies. The results were published recently in the The Lancet Oncology.

An international collaboration of scientists has revealed the molecular function of a protein essential for replication of H5N1 influenza virus. A subdomain of the viral polymerase undergoes large-scale structural reorganisation to enable an essential part of the polymerase to enter the nucleus of the infected cell, where the viral genome is replicated.

Beckman Coulter Diagnostics has made available Issue 4 of its DxN VERIS Molecular Diagnostics Evidence Pack. Following presentation of eight new scientific posters at the European Societyfor Clinical Virology meeting in Edinburgh, the Evidence Pack has been updated and now contains more than 20 evaluation posters presented at key infectious disease meetings across Europe.

Menarini has announced the placement of its 50th sediMAX analyser into the UK and Irish market. The success of this innovative urine analyser has been largely down to the technology employed, which has moved away from the flow cell-based systems previously available.

The Health & Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has published a report on information about the NHS Cervical Screening Programme in England in 2014–15 and key statistics from the previous 10 years.

A dozen ex-PHLS laboratory managers, some accompanied by their partners, gathered in Bakewell, Derbyshire, in mid-September for their annual reunion at the Rutland Arms Hotel. Special guests were Don Whitley (pictured giving an impromptu after-dinner speech) and his son, Paul Walton (managing director, Don Whitley Scientific).

John Stevens, a past-president of the IBMS, has been appointed Chair of the Academy for Healthcare Science (AHCS). Qualified as a biomedical scientist in haematology and transfusion science, John has worked across all healthcare disciplines, including a spell as a research assistant.

Hologic has continued its expansion into the virology testing market, having earned CE?IVD certification for the Aptima hepatitis C virus (HCV) Quant Dx assay on the fully automated Panther system.

Menarini has announced the placement of its 50th sediMAX analyser into the UK and Irish market. The success of this innovative urine analyser has been largely down to its unique technology, which has moved away from the flow cell-based systems previously available. A high throughput of 110 samples per hour, irrespective of sample quality, is available as it uses disposable cuvettes. This means that sediMAX can claim to be the fastest urine processor available.

Adaptimmune Therapeutics has announced that the first patient has been dosed in its expanded Phase I/II trial of its affinity enhanced T-cell receptor (TCR) therapeutic targeting the NY-ESO-1 cancer antigen in synovial sarcoma patients. Based on encouraging results in the first cohort of 10 patients, the trial is being expanded to encompass an additional 20 patients in two further cohorts.

Bjbedke www.commons.wikimedia.org CC BY-SA 3.0

A new Swedish study has shown that a new test for prostate cancer is better at detecting aggressive cancer than prostate-specific antigen (PSA).

As a Licensed Body of the Science Council, the IBMS holds three professional registers: Chartered Scientist, Registered Scientist and Registered Science Technician. The Science Council recently introduced a CPD Award for the highest quality returns from the 2014 CPD audit of registrants. Therefore, the IBMS was pleased to learn that two registrants, Gordon Sutehall (CSci level) and Laura Green (RSciTech level), were invited to receive commendations at the Science Council annual CPD Monitoring workshop, held at the British Computer Society on 23 September 2015.