Liverpool Hope has been awarded a Medical Research Council (MRC) grant to work with partners in the Philippines to develop a new receptacle that preserves the quality of bio specimens over long distances.
The Proposal Development Grant will enable Liverpool Hope will work with partners in the Philippines to model and develop the receptacle, with the aim of use in public health disease surveillance. The receptacle is also being designed to be low cost.
Bio specimens, especially patient-derived samples, require critical maintenance and preservation to yield good quality cellular and molecular information, to help identify disease.
Most outbreaks in the Philippines start in rural areas, and require a long journey to central laboratories. A mechanically-controlled micro receptacle, that optimally maintains and preserves the integrity and quality of the bio specimen, could fill the existing gap associated with logistical problems in the event of outbreaks.
Philippine partners include De La Salle University in Manila, St Luke’s Hospital – a leading hospital in the country – and Skyline Hospital. Two SMEs are also involved in the project: BIOCORE Research and Consultancy Ltd, in the UK, and Neuronemech Inc, in the Philippines.
The University’s success in securing this first round of funding will enable the research leads from Liverpool Hope, Prof Raouf Naguib and Prof Atulya Nagar of Faculty of Science, to further develop the bid for the second and much larger stage of the project with colleagues from the Philippines.
The funding counterpart in the Philippines is the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD).