News & Events
Conference May 2015
- Venue: Newcastle Medical School
- Start: Mon, 18 May 2015 09:33:00 BST
- End: Tue, 19 May 2015 09:33:00 BST
The first POSAT conference was held at the University of Newcastle Medical School between 18 and 19 May 2015, hosted by Prof. Simi Ali and the Dean of Postgraduate Research Prof. John Kirby, both PIs to the FP7 sponsored Marie Curie research grant, and researchers at the Institute of Cellular Medicine (ICM).Marie Curie Fellows, currently conducting their research at the ICM, Dr. Gabriel Cantanhede, Ms. Beatriz Martinez-Burgo, Ms. Nina Jordan and Ms. Laura Ferreras joined Prof. Neil Sheerin (Professor of Nephrology) and Dr. Chris Ward (Senior Lecturer, Respiratory Medicine) to further integrate the University of Newcastle team.
The conference offered an opportunity for extensive training on academic-industrial partnerships and an open dialogue between the University of Newcastle team and prestigious industry and university partners QIAGEN, ALMAC, Cellix and University of Durham (Department of Chemistry), all who have agreed to host the fellows for secondments in the course of their 3 year-long research. The overarching theme of the conference was the role and responsibilities of academia, industry and health care providers / NHS on the establishment of partnerships to foster innovation and biomedical technology for clinical patient care.
The Fellows had the opportunity to present the rationale for their research projects and preliminary data addressing themes related to organ survival following transplantation, and to receive a range of transferable skills related to the biomedical technology and health care financing and delivery of products.
QIAGEN was represented by Ms. Jane Theaker (Technology Office, Manchester), Ms. Sandra Hayes (Regulatory Affairs, Manchester) and Mr. Clement Larcher (Senior Scientist, Manchester). QIAGEN offered the fellows in-depth training on in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) production pipeline, ranging from market analysis, design and development and marketing of IVD products in an increasingly regulated market governed by GMP guidelines.
Ms. Hayes offered precious insight into the world of regulatory affairs intelligence and requirements for IVD products entering the global markets. Mr. Clement Larcher conducted an exciting, interactive session about funding sources for biomedical start-ups and presented case studies about the interaction between biomedical technologies and patent law. QIAGEN’s contribution ended with Ms. Jane Theaker offering an interactive session to illustrate the world of design and development http://www.stat.ubc.ca/~rollin/stats/ssize/n2.html and also product delivery for IVD and diagnostic companion kits.
Dr. Gabriel Cantanhede and Ms. Nina Jordan, both who were seconded to QIAGEN Manchester between October 2014 – January 2015 then led a discussion on academia-industrial partnerships and the National Health Service. The formal part of the day was brought to a closure, but proceedings resumed at the Baltic Six restaurant where University, Fellows and industrial partners celebrated the success of the first year, overlooking the Tyne River, and special landmarks at the prestigious Newcastle/Gateshead Quayside.
The second day was initiated by Dr. Alistair Hay and Dr. Rachel Slater, both from ALMAC. Both offered their perspectives and experiences on the current state of affairs and future of academic-industrial partnerships from the perspective of the GMP and non-GMP product line for synthetic/ mutant chemokine products, designed and ran from their UK headquarters in Edinburgh. Dr Hay shared with the fellows his personal trajectory in product development, which has enriched our perspective in terms of career choices post FP7 research training.
The day followed with a presentation from Dr. Steven Cobb and Dr. Ehmke Pohl celebrating the history of academic-industrial partnerships through the University of Durham (Department of Chemistry) and their experience with Trinity College in Dublin. Cobb’s and Pohl’s contribution has been instrumental to the successful conclusion of Laura Ferreras’ and Beatriz Martinez-Burgo’s Chemistry-based secondment at the University of Durham.
Cellix’s CTO Dr. Dmitry Kanashian presented a range of microfluidics systems applied to a variety of clinical useful scenarios ranging from heart disease to organ transplantation. Cellix presented these platforms to showcase their ability to incorporate their successful biotechnology business model from bench-to-clinic, generating evidence geared towards drug development and potentially patient care.
Finally, as closure of the POSAT 2-day seminar, Beatriz M Burgo and Laura Ferreras led a discussion about the improvement of industry-University relationship. Questions related to career opportunities after PhD and the advantages and disadvantages of working in private industry were discussed.
