Drug development and discovery

Comprehensive drug development services

MTIF has a number of state-of-the-art facilities and cutting-edge pieces of equipment that enable us to offer a comprehensive services to any researcher or organisation seeking drug development and discovery services.

One aspect of this offer is our partnership with Hamamatsu. Through our collaboration we are one of only a handful of research institutions that offers public access to a Hamamatsu FDSS/μCELL.

The FDSS/μCELL is an easy to use, purpose-built kinetic plate reader that screens various compounds at high throughput. The FDSS/μCELL dispenses in 96 / 384 wells while fluorescence or luminescence measurements are taken simultaneously in 96 / 384 / 1536 wells using a highly sensitive Hamamatsu camera, which captures cell dynamics under the same conditions with no time lag between wells. The FDSS/μCELL is simple to connect to an external robotic system for easy automation of assays.

Additional features of the FDSS/μCELL making it the best solution for drug discovery:

High speed acquisition – high speed reading (up to 200kHz) is a key factor to detect changes in wells accurately
Temperature control – temperature can be maintained at physiological sample temperature +35 °C to 37 °C for all wells in a plate
CO2 supply – the CO2 concentration can be maintained to keep intracellular pH in the medium constant
Analysis of waveform – Ca2+ transient waveforms can be analysed using the FDSS Waveform Analysis software
Electric Field Stimulation (EFS) – EFS system adds electric field stimulation to all 96 wells simultaneously during fluorescence measurement

Containment Level 2 Labs

The MTIF Innovation Centre is home to two Containment Level 2 labs, perfect for all drug development and discovery requirements. Our cell culture lab on the ground floor is certified by the Human Tissue Authority (HTA). HTA certification supports the integrity, quality, and ethical standards of drug development research, contributing to the overall success and acceptance of new therapies in the medical community.

In the Bioactive Surfaces Laboratory on the ground floor, we have our suite of cell therapy research devices, a genomic sequencing and analysis suite, as well as a DNA/rNA printer. This lab is adjoined to the Bioassay Lab which houses the Hamamatsu FDSS/μCELL enabling high throughput analysis.

On the second floor is the Microbiology Laboratory, where our team of researchers have capabilities to focus on antimicrobial diseases and possible treatments.

The range of equipment and proximity ensure that all research needs are catered for under one roof.

Dr Chris Gabbott

Biological and Genomic Scientist

Dr Chris Gabbott is a biological and genomic scientist at MTIF who engages with a diverse clientele in medical tech. He uses various techniques essential to cell therapy development, blood analysis, imaging, and genomics.

Dr Gabbott has a background in regenerative medicine and has previously worked in the pharmaceutical and clinical trials industry. Transitioning from there, he undertook a role as a Research Fellow at NTU, focusing on tissue engineering before moving to MTIF.

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Amy Kerry

Biological and Genomic Scientist

Amy holds a Master’s degree in Molecular Biology from the University of Nottingham and has a background in clinical research gained from her four years of working in a clinical research organisation.

Amy’s experience lies in cell-based assays, clinical trial sample processing, and flow cytometry. Amy has demonstrated proficiency in using the Miltenyi Biotech suite of instruments available at MTIF, including the AutoMACS Pro Separator and the MACSQuant 16 flow cytometer. Amy has also shown proficiency in utilising the Hamamatsu Functional Drug Screening System, even training groups of commercial researchers from the MTIF facility.

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Dr Adam Varney

Research Fellow, Microbiology, Omics and antimicrobial drug development

Dr Adam Varney is a Senior Research Fellow at MTIF, specialising in microbiology. His research focuses on antimicrobial drug testing and development, utilising classical techniques, bioreactor models and advanced omics approaches, including transcriptomics and genomics. He collaborates extensively with transdisciplinary teams and industry partners on projects aimed at novel antimicrobial testing, discovering mechanisms of action for antimicrobials, reducing contamination in medical devices, and transcriptomic and genomic sequencing.

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MTIF Tissue Culture Lab

MTIF’s certified Containment Level 2 Tissue Culture Lab is a perfect environment for drug development and discovery research. This laboratory is a secure environment approved by the Human Tissue Authority, seamlessly integrated with our other capabilities and support services. It is a space dedicated to advancing medical breakthroughs. This lab is meticulously organised and contains all the equipment needed to cultivate ground-breaking research, shaping the future of healthcare.