RECENT NEWS

The introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) primary screening in England was announced recently. DNA-based HPV testing has been at the heart of research over the past 10 years, through the landmark ATHENA study, which has demonstrated the long‐term safety of using HPV DNA as a predictor of cervical cancer risk.

John Lawrence James, whose biomedical science expertise culminated in worldwide responsibility for quality and competence in medical laboratories, has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate at a recent Middlesex University graduation ceremony.

Superbugs is an app-based game produced by the Longitude Prize, aimed at those in the 11–16 age group. Players fight superbugs using existing and new antibiotics, and try to survive against the most virulent strains of bacterial infections.

It is now possible to predict how well tuberculosis (TB) responds to drug treatment, according to a new study at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Dr Simon Waddell, working with a team of researchers from the UK, South Africa and Finland, has discovered bacterial biomarkers that predict early treatment success. This may allow patients to finish drug therapy early, reducing the difficult and debilitating side-effects of the drugs and cutting treatment costs.

The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT) and the University of Aberdeen have launched Islexa, a new company developing a novel technology to produce laboratory-grown islets, which are responsible for insulin production. The technology could bring the option of an islet transplant to thousands more patients with type I diabetes mellitus (T1DM).

The Integrated Laboratory Services for Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust will replace its current laboratory information management system (LIMS) with the CliniSys WinPath Enterprise system.

Medisort is a healthcare waste management provider, working with healthcare professionals in hospitals, GP practices, dentists, tattooists and veterinary surgeons. The company treats infectious or potentially infectious waste in its own facilities, helping customers comply with the law.

Suez Treatment Solutions has provided two new water purification units to the University of York’s Biology Department. The two machines are a Select Fusion and Select Neptune. The Fusion is for analytical and life science applications that need small volumes of ultrapure water (typically up to 50 L per day), while the Neptune is for higher volumes of up to 2 L per minute.

CliniSys has announced a new partnership with hc1.com, through which it will deliver a ‘powered by hc1’ pathology customer relationship management (CRM) and live analytics solution, offering an innovative platform that enables laboratories to deliver the highest level of service.

Horiba UK has recently installed its first Yumizen H500 at the National Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine, East Midlands, (NCSEM-EM), based at Loughborough University. The Yumizen H500 is a small, compact analyser that provides a full blood count plus five-population WBC differential on very small sample volumes using only three reagents.

A case study describing the experiences of Niguarda Hospital, Milan, in assessing the new DxN VERIS Molecular Diagnostics System is now available from Beckman Coulter. The case study describes the workflow improvements and reduced turnaround times that the hospital’s molecular biology laboratory has achieved for viral load measurements using the DxN VERIS system.

The laboratories of the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (BHSCT) received a highly commended certificate at the Ulster University Placement Employer of the Year Awards ceremony, held last month. The laboratories in the trust facilitate a 52-week placement programme each year for up to eight Ulster University students undertaking the degree programme in biomedical sciences.

The British Society for Microbial Technology (BSMT) is offering a limited number of grants of up to £1000 to assist with the practical side of laboratory-orientated education. Whether to purchase kits or other consumables and reagents, to complete a research project or to undertake a service evaluation within a microbiology laboratory setting, the BSMT can help.

A novel way of synthesising a promising new antibiotic has been identified by scientists at the University of Bristol. By expressing the genes involved in the production of pleuromutilin in a different type of fungus, the researchers have been able to increase production by more than 2000%.

CDC/Melissa Dankel; James Gathany.jpg

Institute President Ian Sturdgess recently attended the launch of South West London Pathology’s new state-of-the-art laboratories at St George’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Ian was invited along with guests from South West London Pathology (SWLP) staff, hospital trusts, NHS England, the Medical Director for London Region, local GPs and CCG colleagues, and representatives from commercial companies.

To coincide with World Health Day, decontamination and infection control specialist Hygiene Solutions has produced an infographic to highlight healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) – what they are and how they spread – and what healthcare professionals and members of the public can do to help avoid the transmission of HAIs. The infographic, which can be viewed at the link below, is designed help spread awareness of HAIs such as Clostridium difficile (pictured) and how they can be contained and prevented.

Institute Fellow Dr Mustafa A Abu-Lisan has been appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Dr Abu-Lisan was appointed to the post by Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant of Greater London, Kenneth Olisa.

Frances Hughes and Claire Swift, both senior biomedical scientists in molecular pathology, are part of the team at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust which won the award for Improving Quality and Efficiency through Workforce Transformation, for their work on the Molecular Pathology Diagnostic Service.

Mast will be exhibiting again at the BSMT Spring Meeting, to be held at Public Health England, Colindale, on Friday, 20 May 2016. The one-day symposium ‘Assessing the Impact of New Technology in Diagnostics on Global Epidemiology: How Laboratories Make a Difference’, will discuss how laboratories identify and quantify infectious disease globally and how advances in technology has permitted more accurate reporting.

Ceftaroline (Zinforo), manufactured by AstraZeneca, is a novel cephalosporin used in the treatment of skin and soft tissue infections. It has also been used successfully in the treatment of complicated skin infections.