CORONAVIRUS NEWS

Recently, a biomedical scientist from Hackney embarked on an adventure to climb Mount Everest as part of a pioneering medical research project called Caudwell Xtreme Everest.

The Central Office for Research Ethics Committees (COREC) has been relaunched as the National Research Ethics Service (NRES).

Recently, Salisbury District Hospital launched a new microbiology laboratory system, the first in Europe to use the electronic Kiestra system to process specimens containing organisms such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

An exciting new venture, Labs are Vital, was launched at the recent Focus 2007 meeting in Manchester.

Randox Laboratories recently celebrated 25 years of service to the clinical diagnostics industry.

The British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA) announced the appointment of a new president, Mr William Burns, at the official opening of its new office.

ESA Biosciences has opened an expanded service and support centre in St Neots to provide an enhanced level of customer service and support throughout Europe for its expanding base of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) detectors, including the popular Corona charged aerosol detector (CAD).

Touchclave laboratory autoclaves from LTE Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced the availability of a new technical poster to highlight the special plate-handling capabilities of Thermo ScientificÆs Nautilus LIMS for highthroughput applications.

John Merry (pictured) has been appointed business development manager for CamlabÆs LabService.

Linda Satterley has joined Medical Solutions as its new cytology support manager.

Integra Biosciences has produced a video that demonstrates how its DOSE IT programmable peristaltic pump makes the dispensing of culture media, buffers and other solutions easy and efficient.

Oxoid has announced the winners of the 2006/2007 Oxoid Infection Control Team of the Year Awards.

QSI has introduced new customer support services for WinLIMS Rental, a product that has proved particularly popular with smaller laboratories and businesses for which the outright purchase of an information management system would be out of the question.

Beckman Coulter has been awarded a grant to develop quality assurance and quality control materials to be used to verify the accuracy of a planned point-of-care human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) test for resource-poor countries. The grant was awarded by Imperial College LondonÆs CD4 Initiative, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Researchers at Hammersmith Hospital in London have developed new drug, PEGylated-interferon, to treat hepatitis C patients that will save the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds a year. It costs just a fraction of that spent on current treatment and will make therapy affordable for millions of sufferers worldwide.

Students from the Biology Department at Hull University have helped to launch the new DVD from the Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme (UAS), following a series of presentations charting their own experiences of completing a UAS module.

The Human Tissue Authority (HTA) has issued its first licences under the Human Tissue Act. These licences will ensure that tissue such as heart valves, corneas and skin are stored in a safe way for the treatment of patients.

The UK's eight Research Councils have begun an initiative to assess the efficiency and value for money of their grant peer review process.

Oxoid has announced that first prize in its 2005/2006 Infection Control Team of the Year Awards has been awarded to Craigavon Area Hospital Group Trust, Co Armagh, Northern Ireland.