Research Activities

We specialise in the development and application of nucleic acid, immunochemical or biochemical based assays, and will undertake collaborative or contract research projects using these techniques in any area of human or animal scientific investigation. We can provide a complete and cost effective service, right through from initial project design to a presentation of the final report and the detail is arranged to suit the needs of individual clients.

For a discussion of any potential research proposals please call us or e-mail Dr David Burnett (d.burnett@micropathology.com).

We collaborate in a variety of research programs with colleagues at universities and hospitals.  A number of academic research students and fellows undertake joint research projects with our company staff on a regular basis.

Examples of our recent and current research projects are listed below:

1. Dr Andrea Collins and Dr Joanna Brown are collaborating with Dr David Honeybourne and Dr Rifat Rashid in a comparison of a rapid nucleic acid testing with conventional microbiological methods in the detection of Burkholderia cenocepacia complex (BCC) in the sputa of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. BCC are important opportunistic human pathogens with infections resulting in frequent hospitalisation, poor clinical prognosis and decreased survival in these patients. The rapid detection of BCC isolates is of great benefit in the management of CF patients both in the clinic and during in-patient periods. We have optimised the identification of different Burkholderia sp. using multilocus sequence typing and we are optimising a rapid PCR test to differentiate between two species, B. cenocepacia IIIa/IIIb and B. multivorans, known to be the most prevalent and problematic in CF patients. This project involves collaborations with Professor Chris Dowson and his team from the University of Warwick Biological Sciences department.
2. Dr Andrea Collins, in collaboration with Professor Robert Coleman, Consultant Oncologist, University of Sheffield, is involved in a project on the identification and characterisation of RNA markers in the blood that may be useful as clinical indicators and for the rapid diagnosis of metastatic disease in breast cancer. The developments are presently undergoing clinical evaluation.
3. The company part funds combined BBSRC grants with Professor Chris Dowson, University of Warwick, supporting:
   1. Research by Eleanor Pinnock who is a postgraduate research student. Her project aims to define some of the genetic characteristics of Pseudomonas. Species from this genus cause serious disease in humans, and the organisms also are carried in animals. This research is partly funded by the Medical Research Fund, a charity run within the University of Warwick.
   2. Research by Frankie Bolt, postgraduate research student, to look at the genetic characteristics of corynebacteria with reference to their changing virulence and genetic variability
4. Dr Phil Bennett, our molecular geneticist, is co-supervising an EPSRC PhD student in a collaborative project with Dr Anna Williams from Cranfield University’s Forensic Science Institute. The project will involve the physical characterisation of decomposition processes in compromised human bone samples and their correlation with successful forensic human DNA identification.
5. In 2004 the Royal Commission (1851) awarded the company a Research Fellowship in collaboration with Professor Philip Murray of the Birmingham & Midland Eye hospital and Professor Chris Dowson, Microbiologist at the University of Warwick. The company contributed to this award to fund Dr Anna Gao, Medical Research Fellow, who used a system of Multi Locus Sequence Typing to examine the genetic characteristics of sight threatening bacterial eye infections present in diverse communities, to determine unique genetic markers that may be used to produce rapid diagnostic tests for these infections. The organisms on which she based her research were Propionibacteria and Pseudomonas species.
6. Dr Joanne Mitchell was involved in a large scale venous leg ulcer study with the University of York funded by the UK Health Technology Assessment Programme, which is part of the NHS National Institute for Health Research.  The clinical and cost effectiveness of two formulations - larval (maggot) therapy and a standard debridement technique (hydrogel) - were compared. The company objectives were to establish bacterial load within sequential swabs from the ulcers and to investigate the carriage of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) within this population. Dr Mitchell optimised a real-time, quantitative test for bacterial 16s rRNA for use with wound swabs and, in conjunction with Jeremy Royle, (intercalating BSc student who went on to study medicine at Warwick) provided the study with a low cost, rapid diagnostic test for MRSA.
7. The company is providing both financial support and diagnostic expertise for Professor J Simon Kroll , Department of Paediatrics Imperial College London and St Mary’s Hospital in a project with Dr Jethro Herberg, Imperial College Research Fellow, looking at the respiratory infections and host responses in children acutely admitted to hospital.
8. The company is providing financial support for Professor J Simon Kroll in a project looking at changing bacterial colonisation of children admitted acutely to hospital with respiratory infections.