The Midlands is at the forefront of cutting-edge flow cytometry research, thanks to one of the longest-standing Midlands Innovation research networks which has grown from strength-to-strength since 2015.
The annual Midlands Innovation Flow Cytometry Meeting at Loughborough University on 25 April attracted more than 100 academics, early career researchers, technicians and industry professionals working in flow cytometry.
The event programme featured more than 20 talks, workshops and poster presentations showcasing the breadth of flow cytometry research taking place in the region within medical, life sciences, biotechnology, food science and environmental disciplines.
Professor Lucy Fairclough, Chair of Midlands Innovation Flow Cytometry Group and Professor of Immunology at the University of Nottingham, said she was thrilled with the engagement from the research community.
“Now in its fifth year, our annual meeting aims to bring people together to share specialist expertise, best practice and learn about research impact and collaboration opportunities within the region. Thanks to the enthusiasm of early year career researchers across our eight partners, our programme included a real breadth of talks suitable for both beginners and advanced flow cytometrists, we even attracted delegates from global flow cytometry companies at this year’s event,” she said.
She added: “Bringing together researchers with industry at events like this gives us an opportunity to strengthen Midlands research through cutting-edge flow cytometry technology. Our region is home to state-of-the-art equipment which we share across our institutions to support vital flow cytometry research and training opportunities, and our annual meeting allows us to celebrate this.”
Keynote speaker Professor Andrew MacDonald, Professor of Immunology at the University of Manchester said: “The flow cytometry community in the Midlands has a strong track record of applying flow cytometry to a range of disciplines and securing funding for specialist equipment to enable vital research. It was fantastic to learn more about these successes about the collaborative research culture in the Midlands supporting flow cytometry.”
Professor Steve Rothberg, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Research at Loughborough University said: “The Midlands Innovation Flow Cytometry Group is testament to the power of Midlands Innovation. The group promotes research collaboration, facilitates equipment sharing and creates flow cytometry training and development opportunities across Midlands Innovation institutions.”
Professor Lucy Fairclough added: “Thank you to our sponsors who have supported this valuable event, these include: Becton Dickinson, Luminex, Beckman Coulter, Fluidigm, BioStatus, Curiox, Sony, NanoFCM, Miltenyi, Bio-Rad, Thermo Fisher, Cytek.”
