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Research carried out at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) since 1998 has led to the establishment of the ladybird, Chilocorus nigritus, as a viable biocontrol agent (BCA) in UK glasshouses. However, integrated pest management (IPM) programmes involving C. nigritus sometimes inexplicably fail. The specific impact claimed here relates to research at CCCU, in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and the Natural History Museum, which has improved the efficacy of utilising C. nigritus for biocontrol.
Specifically, this research has: 1) optimised protocols for growth and use of C. nigritus, 2) resulted in changes in practice at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and 3) changed the advice given by the companies selling C. nigritus as a biocontrol agent.
Aurox Ltd is an Oxfordshire spin-out company formed in 2004 by Prof Mark Neil (at Imperial since August 2002) with former colleagues from Oxford University. Its main product line consists of wide field optical sectioning fluorescence microscopes based on the principle of structured illumination and detection using patterned disks. The microscopes use conventional (lower cost) light sources and do not require a scanning system which sets them apart from competitors. Research at Imperial has impacted on the design of disk patterns for optimising performance and has played a critical role in bringing these microscopes to market. Aurox's systems are supplied to and marketed by Carl Zeiss (as VivaTome™) and Andor Technology (as Revolution DSD™) for application in the biomedical sciences, generating successful sales over the period 2008-2012 and enabling Aurox to embark on a second-generation development programme. Since 2008 Aurox have sold more than 150 units with market value in excess of £3M. The majority of this £3M in sales have been since 2010 when an optimisation step which was developed and devised at Imperial College was incorporated into the Aurox products.
Methodological, algorithmic and interpretational advances in wavelet techniques for time series analysis are encapsulated in the research monograph by Percival and Walden (2000): "Wavelet Methods for Time Series Analysis" (WMTSA). Multiple language software packages have been developed from the book's contents, including the Spotfire S+ package from the major commercial software company TIBCO (2008-present). TIBCO Spotfire clients span many sectors and include major companies such as GE, Chevron, GlaxoSmithKline and Cisco. Further applications of the wavelet techniques developed in WMTSA include in the biomedical, conservation and financial sectors. WMTSA is used, for example, in functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging by GlaxoSmithKline, to monitor cracks in the dome of the UNESCO world heritage site Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral in Florence, and by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in its analysis of measuring core inflation.
Molecular Vision Ltd ("MV"), which was spun-out of Imperial Innovations, develops simple-to-use, point-of-care diagnostic devices (known as the BioLED™ platform) that quickly produce lab-quality information from a single sample of bodily fluids. Since 2008 MV has validated the platform, including demonstration of its CardioplexTM triple test for myoglobin, CK-MB and troponin-I in a serum sample, and undertaken >£1.5M of contract work for a variety of customers including Acrongenomics Inc, Microfluidic ChipShop and L'Oreal; addressing analysis problems relating to kidney and cardiac health, pathogen identification and cosmetics. During the REF period the Company has generated a total of over £3.4m in investment, contract revenue and non-UK grant funding and created greater than 50 man years of UK employment, primarily at the PhD level. Abingdon Health Group acquired a majority stake in MV in 2012 as part of its strategy to create a fully integrated business in the UK that is able to compete in the large and global immunodiagnostics market.
Questions about the benign or malignant nature of liver tumours are common and pressing since they determine how the patient is managed. Benign masses are frequently encountered; they usually do not require intervention but are easily mistaken for malignancies with conventional imaging methods. Work at Imperial College demonstrated that microbubble contrast agents have the special property of lingering in both normal liver tissue and in benign solid masses, whereas malignancies do not retain microbubble. The discovery of this property at Imperial has led to their use worldwide as a diagnostic tool. In 2012 NICE recommended their use as being cost-effective for this use.
A spin-out company, Ingenia Technology Ltd, was launched in 2005, to bring the technique now known as Laser Surface Authentication (LSA) to market. LSA is used to detect and prevent forgeries by allowing a unique, naturally occurring and uncopyable identity code to be read from material surfaces. It is particularly useful for fighting counterfeiting and smuggling of high-value documents and products and as such makes an important contribution to (i) industrial and consumer safety, (ii) commercial revenues and (iii) countering criminal activity. Organisations and companies contracted to use Ingenia's LSA technology include the pharmaceutical firm Bayer, carton manufacturers CARTONDRUCK and Grafiche Bramucci, Swiss precious metal refiner PAMP and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Research staff in the Centre for Population Biology (CPB) at Imperial developed a range of species conservation assessment tools and methodologies based on population modelling carried out by CPB research staff. The introduction in 1994 of a scientifically rigorous approach to determine risks of extinction that is applicable to all species, based on underlying research at Imperial and described in paper [6], has led to a rigorous and robust approach that is used by governments, conservation organisations and researchers worldwide. In particular, these tools have been applied in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ and have made a fundamental contribution to this conservation measure. This Red List is widely recognized as the most comprehensive, objective global approach for evaluating the conservation status of plant and animal species. It plays a prominent role in guiding conservation activities of governments, NGOs and scientific institutions and has led to the formation of the Red List Index. Results from the Red List Index have led to worldwide bodies rethinking conservation targets and indicators and strongly influenced the Convention on Biological Diversity's 2020 Aichi targets.
Researchers at Imperial College London have established a spin-out company called Ionscope Ltd which develops and sells Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopes (SICM). This is a novel technology that can (i) characterise live cells and their derivatives non-destructively during differentiation and development, (ii) correlate biophysical features at unprecedented resolution with detailed transcriptional information on a single cell level, and (iii) steer cell fate by mechanical stimulus. Other high magnification techniques interfere with or kill living cells, whereas SICM is benign, allowing living cells to be studied over long periods, making it a highly desirable technology for all groups working within biomedical research. The technique has application in the study of living processes at nano-scale, which to date has included neurons, heart muscle, kidney, sperm and stem cells. Ionscope Ltd sales since 2009 have totalled [text removed for publication], with the company registering a 20% increase in its revenue over the past 5 years.
Molecular Vision Ltd (MV), an Imperial Innovations spinout, has developed a low-cost technology for multiplexed analysis on bodily fluids. The BioLED™ platform rapidly delivers lab-quality information from a single-sample point-of-care diagnostic device. Since 2008 MV has validated the platform, including demonstration of its Cardioplex™ triple test for myoglobin, CK-MB and troponin-I in a serum sample, and undertaken > £1.5M of contract work for a variety of customers including Acrongenomics Inc, Microfluidic ChipShop and L'Oreal. A further £1.2M in non-UK and £2.6M in UK equity investment and > £660K in non-UK grant funding has been injected via MV into the UK economy during the REF period, securing > 50 person years' employment. MV is now a key component of the Abingdon Health Group's (AHG's) strategy to create a fully integrated UK business to compete in the multi-billion pound global immunodiagnostics market. Agreements with a leading European pharmaceutical company and a large multi-national chemical company, in both cases to co-develop point-of-care diagnostic tests in the UK, are now underway.
Temozolomide is a major UK anti-cancer drug development success story. Following chemical synthesis at Aston University, early clinical evaluation of temozolomide carried out at Imperial College optimised how temozolomide was scheduled and delivered to patients to ensure maximum efficacy balanced acceptable side effects. Imperial's early trials demonstrated how the drug could be used effectively to treat patients with a type of brain cancer, glioma, and was pivotal to its subsequent market licensing. ESMO and NICE guidelines recommend temozolomide for use in patients with recurrent glioma and for patients with newly diagnosed Grade IV glioma. Glioma is a relatively rare cancer yet annual sales of temozolomide have been in excess of £900 million per year since 2009. Temozolomide given during and following radiotherapy is now standard of care for glioma and has improved survival compared to previous treatments or radiotherapy alone.