Funded by Wellcome, Translation Manchester was established in May 2018 to help overcome the obstacles to conducting translational research at the University of Manchester. The aim of Translation Manchester is to support translation research thereby making the pathway from discovery research to real world implementation quicker and easier.

Translational research relies on collaborations and multidisciplinary working, but in organisations as large as the University of Manchester, finding the support you need at the right time can sometimes be tricky. The Translation Manchester Research Network (TMRN) brings together groups and organisation which support health related translational research projects at all stages- whether they be in the early discovery stages or advancing towards adoption and spread. The TMRN is a one-stop-shop for all of your translational research support needs.

24th February 13:00-13:45

We are now launching the Translation Manchester Seminar Series, providing an opportunity for researchers to find out more about each of the TMRN partners and how they can help support and progress translational research projects. The Translation Manchester Seminar Series will bring together TMRN partners and translational researchers enabling new connection and collaboration to develop.

The first event of these monthly seminars will be held virtually on the February 24th 13:00-13:45. Speakers will be Penny Cristinacce representing the National Cancer Imaging Translational Accelerator (NCITA), and Scott Harrison from Affinity Biomarker Labs.

Programme

• 13:00 – 13:05: Introduction to Translation Manchester and the Seminar Series with Alessandro Faroni and Becky Bibby

• 13:05 – 13.25: AFFINITY Biomarker Labs with Scott Harrison

• 13.25 – 13.45: NCITA with Penny Cristinacce

Affinity Biomarker Labs

Affinity Biomarker Labs Supports research across Greater Manchester via the provision of central laboratory services and esoteric biomarker analysis. Founded at Imperial College London by clinical Biochemists from King’s College London, our new labs in Manchester will focus on the analysis of circulating blood based biomarkers, utilising clinical chemistry, immunoassay, multiplexing, haematology, genomics, proteomics and flow cytometry platforms. Affinity also partners with researchers in the development of novel diagnostics including molecular diagnostics and point of care immunoassays. Affinity welcomes approaches by researchers at any stage from early letters of support and grant applications joint submissions to late stage projects requiring support for large scale clinical trial sample analysis.

National Cancer Imaging Translational Accelerator (NCITA)

NCITA is a CRUK-funded national imaging network, aiming to accelerate the standardisation and clinical translation of cancer imaging biomarkers to improve diagnosis and healthcare outcomes for patients. NCITA is a multi-institutional consortium of imaging centres of excellence across the UK, of which The University of Manchester is a member. The consortium is composed of three cross-institutional units which work in synergy to provide an integrated pipeline for the development of quality assured cancer imaging biomarkers for clinical use. The Imaging Clinical Trials Unit supports and coordinates studies, where the research question focuses on imaging, or imaging is required to determine the primary end point. The QA/QC Unit aims to provide robust validation, standardisation, quality assurance and quality control methods for the development of imaging biomarkers from first-in-human studies to achieving multi-site reproducibility assessment. The Image Repository Unit is building an image repository for secure storage and sharing of imaging biomarker trial data between trial sites in multicentre clinical trials, as well as data processing and analysis using novel machine learning and AI tools.