10692 A4 Broadcast Newsletter_aw

MDC Broadcast July Newsletter WENEED YOU

Kevin shares a brief introduction to immunohistochemistry (IHC). Giving us an insight intowhat he’s getting up to in his Molecular Pathology laboratory. For anyonewhowants to find outmore, Kevin is very happy to showyou around his Block 3 home. DS&T Snapshot

CHALLENGE

This newsletter could do with a new name that reflects the great things that you all do. So, wewould like YOU (yes, YOU) to help choose one for us. After all, it’s your newsletter. To enter your suggestion click here.

This newsletter exists for YOU and we want to make sure it is giving you what you need. You are a bright bunch and this newsletter will only be its best with your input.

What are you working on? I am using the Leica BOND platform to develop a repertoire of automated immunohistochemistry (IHC) and in situ hybridisation (ISH) assays. Why are you working on it? Although MDC offers some excellent cutting-edge technologies to our SME partners, IHC is often still regarded as the gold standard when it comes to target distribution, efficacy, safety and patient selection studies. IHC will be used in partnership with the new technologies to help validate them, to provide assurance of their accuracy, and to add valuable information. For example, we are using IHC to characterise cultured microglia cells to ascertain their maturity, activity, and subtype. How do you do it? Antibody and assay validation are essential to ensure the legitimacy of the data produced. We can utilise cultured cells, organoids and spheroids, or healthy and diseased tissues during the process. The validation will assess many factors, such as specificity, sensitivity, dynamic range, signal: noise ratio and reproducibility. The validation package will be tailored to the intended use of the assay. The validation for an assay that may become a diagnostic, prognostic or patient-selective test will be extensive and may take a year or more to complete. The package for a ‘quick look-see’ assay will be much lighter. Where is this applied? These assays can be deployed virtually anywhere along the drug discovery timeline: from target distribution to patient selection; from efficacy studies to GLP safety - anywhere where cells or tissues are important. IHC and ISH assays can provide vital information as stand-alone techniques or can add value in synergy with other technologies. IHC and ISH may have been around for a lot longer than the newer, cool technologies also offered by MDC, but they remain relevant and still have a lot to offer.

We’ll then put the ideas to a public vote and there will be a small prize (hint – it rhymes with schmocolate) on offer for the winning suggestion.

Quick-fire July highlights

DS&T

Opening the Molecular Pathology laboratory in Building 3 to enable high-quality tissue processing and staining. Maia, our Year in Industry student, and Dela, our CASE Ph.D. student, presenting scientific posters at ‘Microbubbles 2019’ in Leeds. Martin Main speaking on ’Advanced Cellular Models in Medicines Discovery: Challenges and Opportunities’ at Waters Innovation Summit.

Syndicates

Finance

Procurement

Being awarded the contract for the Platform for Sensitive Protein Quantification. This platformwill complement our ever- growing biomarker capabilities portfolio. Allowing us to offer our collaborators and customers the chance to quantify proteins in samples with unprecedented sensitivity, exceeding the currently available leading methods up to 1000-fold.

Launching the Psychiatry Consortium with a bang! Off to a great start, there was good coverage in key trade media and a successful digital marketing campaign generated buzz, resulting in several early positive leads. This positions us nicely for September when we will launch the first call for project submissions. Exhibiting at the British Association of Psychopharmacology conference, much interest was generated amongst academics. Growing the team by 50% as Programme Manager, Kieran Prior joined the team.

Welcoming Sam, Management Accountant, to the team. Introducing the new, more efficient, finance project model that allows the team to capture all project data in one place and provide high-level analytics.

Informatics

Legal

Welcoming Software Engineer, Nick Etherington to the team.

Project Management

Hosting Aidan Simpson , who was an absolute pleasure to have in the MDC team for a week as part of his school work experience. See the inside scoop fromAidan’s interviewwith Peter later in this newsletter.

Virtual R&D

Submitting a 71 page Project Portfolio Management (PPM) tender document against a tight deadline, while delivering over 50 active projects within the team. Reaching full capacity within the teamwith the addition of Marc Bradford.

Graeme taking part in the Northern IUK ICURe innovation roundabout panel in Belfast, a competition to choose postdoc-led innovative biotech projects for support and funding.

2

3