RECENT NEWS

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.

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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.

Artist Cordelia Spalding is seeking stories about laboratory glassware items for a science/art installation piece entitled ‘Cupboard of Windows’. The installation aims to record moments of exploration, discovery, inspiration and disappointment that scientists have experienced when working with laboratory glassware. Cordelia is looking for observations and anecdotes about the different moments members have experienced using laboratory glassware.

Institute Fellow Sally J Cutler was recently appointed to a professorship at the University of East London. Sally, whose laboratory career started as a Junior B MLSO in microbiology at the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, said: Some might say that now having a ‘chair’ means that the next milestone might be the couch! What this journey demonstrates is that there are multiple ways in which a biomedical scientist can progress their careers.

The National Society of Histotechnology (NSH) meeting is the largest such event in the world, and this year it was held in Washington DC at the end of August. This year’s meeting was remarkable in that it saw two British histopathology biomedical scientists acknowledged for their individual contributions to the discipline.

Herolab of Wiesloch in Germany manufactures products for life science research and diagnostics, and has now opened a UK-based office in Cambridge. This will help to service the growing number of users in the UK and well as offering sales and support for a number of International dealers and customers.

Medical Wire & Equipment (MWE) is a UK-based manufacturer of specimen collection devices that has been trading for over 60 years. It is now 40 years since MWE pioneered Transwab (pictured), the first commercially available gel transport swab. This year, MWE will celebrate 40 years of Transwab with a series of exhibitions events, during which MWE will also be promoting its new liquid swab, the Sigma Transwab.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is receding, but the Public Health England (PHE)-run diagnostic laboratories in Sierra Leone is playing an important part in bringing it to an end. There are still opportunities for volunteers to work in the laboratories during this critical phase. Full training and support will be provided, and most people who have gone have found it an immensely rewarding experience.

The University of Brighton is sharing in a €5.9m EU grant to support the development of a new treatment for chronic liver disease as part of a European consortium led by University College London. Cirrhosis of the liver affects 29 million Europeans, claims 170,000 lives every year and costs the EU almost €16 billion. There are several causes of liver disease but the increasing incidence of obesity and excessive alcohol consumption is causing a rapid rise in the number of cases seen across Europe.

Oxford Gene Technology (OGT) has announced a strategic realignment of its commercial operations to fuel further growth in its high-value genomics products portfolio. As part of this realignment, OGT will transfer its next-generation sequencing services business to Source BioScience.

A state-of-the-art NHS laboratory has been officially opened by one of the country’s best-known athletes in a ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead. The new £12 million facility will provide clinical testing to patients across Gateshead, Sunderland and South Tyneside, bringing world-class technology to hospitals and GPs across the region.

Renishaw recently reported on the use of its SEM-SCA interface at the Vibrational Spectroscopy Core Facility of the University of Sydney, a professional services unit that houses one of the largest concentrations of state-of-the-art Raman and FT-IR spectrometers in Australia.

Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics is set to showcase its next generation of chemistry and immunoassay systems for central laboratory testing at the IBMS Congress in Birmingham. Building on its heritage of high-throughput ‘automation ready’ analysers, theADVIA Chemistry XPT and ADVIA Centaur XPT Immunoassay systems providesignificant software and hardware enhancements to increase reliability and reduce operator hands on time.

Cepheid has updated its Xpert Carba-R test with the addition of two emerging carbapenemase genes, OXA-181 and OXA-232. The on-demand molecular test also detects and differentiates between the five most prevalent mechanisms of carbapenem resistance, namely KPC, NDM, VIM, IMP-1 and OXA-48.

Aplegen is a new face on the gel documentation market and has introduced Omega Lum W for multicolour R, G, B and chemiluminescence imaging. This small-footprint system breaks the mould of traditional heavy and cumbersome gel documentation systems by utilising innovative design and incorporating an integral tablet for control. This compact package sits neatly on any laboratory bench ready to image gels, Western blots or multiplexing multi-coloured blots at the click of a button.

InterSystems, the developer of the TrakCare unified healthcare information system and other software for connected care, will preview its laboratory business management system (LBMS) at the IBMS Biomedical Science Congress in Birmingham.