The goal of the Laboratory Team is to provide the resources, infrastructure and expertise required to store, process and measure human tissue samples from existing and new  clinical study collections. These are primarily but not restricted to blood-based samples, and the scale of the work is significant with in excess of two million samples stored.

Our team

The laboratory team comprises the BioRepository and Core teams, led by Vasileios Kaimakis, and the Sample Management team led by Steven Knighton.

The BioRepository is managed by Natalia Piaszczyk and the Core team by Mairi Antypa.

Our strategy

The technical strategy behind the establishment of the systems has been to remove as many manual processes by using automated laboratory methods where possible. Generally, the science requirements mean that the team is working with thousands of samples at any one time, and some work is carried out using automated robots to ensure that sample integrity is maintained throughout processing. In order to deal efficiently with this type of work we established the BioRepository: a joint multi-user short-term storage and re-arraying facility on the Addenbrooke’s campus.

The laboratory work for the Unit is either carried out internally, by collaboration or through third party service providers. Internal activity has been focused on high-throughput sample management, custom genetic assays and supporting the measurements of blood-based biomarkers. Many tasks are associated with storing, retrieving and preparing samples that are shipped to collaborators or commercial service providers.

Our resources

The laboratory stores most of its samples at the Unit’s Sample Storage Facility at the Cambridge Research Park. The facility allows for secure medium to long term sample storage. Available storage includes ULT freezers, a -20C cold room, liquid nitrogen tanks and an extensive –80C storage system known as Nordic. There are also two automated –80C Arktic storage systems which increase efficiency by reducing manual input.

The team has expertise in high-throughput DNA extraction and associated quality control and has put over 100,000 DNA samples through this pipeline. It has additional expertise in assay design for genotyping experiments and interpreting raw genotyping data. The team is also able to isolate PBMCs from fresh whole blood, perform blood fractionation and handle samples such as urine, stool or CSF.

We use LIMS (Laboratory Information Management system) for most of the sample process like storage, registration, retrieving, and sending samples for analysis externally or internally. As with the rest of the Laboratory infrastructure, LIMS is in continuous improvement, which is implemented with cooperation with the LIMS team.

Our connections

There are strong connections internally within the Research Operations teams; the Laboratory team provides technical support to the Study Coordination and Field Epidemiology teams for collecting samples and for clinical biochemistry work that goes through the Nutritional Biomarkers Laboratory. The team have also worked closely with the Data Management, Digital Tools and IT teams, and this has enabled an efficient system for backing up, storing and processing data generated by laboratory-based systems.