International Day of Women and Girls in Science!
International Day of Women and Girls in Science!
International Day of Women and Girls in Science!
On Saturday 11th February, we are celebrating International day of Women and girls in Science! This day is an opportunity to celebrate and promote equal access to science for women and girls.
Ahead of the 11th, we have interviewed five influential Women who fulfil STEM based roles across Randox Laboratories. They have shared their experiences and thoughts on Women and girls in the science industry.
Our first interview is with Head of technical Services- Louise Lynn.
Why did you pursue a career in STEM?
I enjoyed science at school and it was an easy decision to continue science through to A-level. I went on to study Biochemistry at Queens University, Belfast and during my time there I heard about Randox. I applied for various jobs when I graduated, but Randox interested me the most and was most applicable for my degree.
What is your role in Randox and how long have you worked in the company for?
I am currently Head of Technical Services in Randox, overseeing the Global Technical Support and Applications Teams.
I have been working in Randox for almost 25 years! I started in the R&D lab during the development of our Liquid Enzyme reagents, and quickly moved into Technical Support. I have held various roles within Technical Support over the years and have seen many changes in that time. As a department we support the Randox Clinical products, dealing with enquiries, complaints and troubleshooting, as well as customer training. No two days are the same.
I enjoy dealing directly with the customers and building those relationships. Working in Technical Support has given me the opportunity to travel and visit labs globally which has been very interesting and allows you to see our products in use and is always a reminder that ultimately there is a patient depending on our products to manage their health.
During the pandemic I was also involved in setting up the Covid Customer Support Team which was one of the most challenging times in my career, but also a very positive experience.
What change have you seen for women in science over the years?
During my time at university and throughout my career I have worked alongside many females, however I have seen an increase in female engineers over more recent years, which is great to see in one of the more male dominated sectors of the business.
Have you found it harder or any different going into your career in science as a woman?
Throughout my career at Randox I have had both male and female managers. We have been very fortunate that everyone is given an equal opportunity within the company and we have always had females in senior management positions. At no stage in my career have I found being a female has caused me to struggle or consider changing my career path. I was also given flexibility when my children were young, but this did not prevent me from progressing my career once I was ready to do so again.
How do you think we can encourage more women to go into the science industry?
Female scientists and engineers going into schools and talking about what they do. Many young people don’t know what they want to do and getting their attention at an early age and hearing real life career stories first hand can have a huge impact.
If you have one piece of advice as a woman starting out the STEM industry, what would it be?
Decide what you want to do and have confidence in yourself that you can do it, even if it is in a male dominated sector. You will make mistakes, but that is science, learn from them and move on.
For more information, please contact Market@randox.com
Celebrating World Antimicrobial Awareness week!
It’s World Antimicrobial Awareness week!
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites resist the effects of medications, making common infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat.
Randox want to take part in the global campaign that is celebrated annually to improve awareness and understanding of Antimicrobial. We have interviewed one of our Molecular specialists, Dr Dwaine Vance on how our revolutionary Randox products aid in the fight against AMR.
We are urging the public to help raise awareness of antimicrobial resistance. Randox is committed to the ongoing development of products and services as well as our research into numerous disease areas to improve health worldwide.
To find out more, visit- www.randox.com or email us- market@randox.com
Celebrating World Diabetes Day 2022!
Celebrating World Diabetes Day, 14th November 2022!
Diabetes is a serious medical condition that causes blood glucose (sugar) levels to become too high. This can cause complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney problems or nerve damage if not treated.
Although there is no cure for Diabetes, the condition can be controlled and monitored.
There are three main types of diabetes, type one, type two and gestational diabetes. The former two are lifelong and can cause life threatening complications if not monitored effectively.
Type one diabetes is when the body can’t make insulin, which is thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction. In the UK, around 8% of the population have type one.
Type two diabetes is generally caused from lifestyle, when the pancreas doesn’t work properly and can’t keep your blood sugar levels from rising. Type two represents around 90% of people with diabetes in the UK.
Gestational diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is a form of diabetes that appears in pregnancy, characterised by high blood sugar due to the hormones produced in pregnancy. In the UK, around 5% of pregnant women are diagnosed every year.
Globally, Diabetes affects more than 415 million people, with type 2 being the most common.
People with T1D have an estimated 50% risk of developing Chronic Kidney Disease over their lifetime. CKD can progress to kidney failure, requiring dialysis or a kidney transplant. Taking a personalized approach to kidney disease screening for people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) may reduce the time that chronic kidney disease (CKD) goes undetected, according to a new analysis performed by the Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications study group.
World Diabetes Day aims to increase visibility around the condition and can help sufferers feel less alone. Charities such as Diabetes UK also use the day to help promote awareness and information around the condition to help get people diagnosed earlier through campaigns such as #RewriteTheStory.
Randox reagents cover a spectrum of laboratory testing which can help monitor Diabetes and the effectiveness of management. This can help prevent serious complications which can become life threatening.
Diagnosis and Monitoring
Fructosamine (Glycated Protein) has been identified as an early indicator of diabetic control compared to other markers such as HbA1c. HbA1c represents the average blood glucose levels for the previous 2-3 months, conversely fructosamine reflects average blood glucose levels of the previous 2-3 weeks. HbA1c levels may also be impacted by genetic, haematological and disease-related factors. The enzymatic Fructosamine method also offers improved specificity and reliability compared to conventional NBT-based methods and does not suffer from non-specific interferences unlike other commercially available Fructosamine assays.
Complications Monitoring – Ketoacidosis
D-3-Hydroxybutyrate (Ranbut) is the most sensitive ketone for the diagnosis of ketosis, in particular diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) , because it represents approximately 80% of ketones present in blood during DKA. The nitroprusside method commonly used in semi-quantitative dipstick tests only detects acetone and acetoacetate making it less accurate.
Complications Monitoring – Renal Dysfunction
Cystatin C is extremely sensitive to very small changes in GFR and has been identified as a strong predictor of clinical outcomes associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Cystatin C doesn’t have a ‘blind area’ like creatinine. Up to 50% of renal function may be lost before significant creatinine elevation occurs. NICE guidelines recommend cystatin C testing due to its higher specificity for significant disease outcomes.
To find out more visit: https://www.randox.com/diabetes-reagents/
Or email us at: reagents@randox.com
Celebrating World Hepatitis Day 2022!
Hepatitis is a condition that affects the liver and can be caused by an infection with a virus. With five different types of Hepatitis from A to E, the most common types of viral Hepatitis are A, B and C. These three viruses affect millions of people worldwide, causing both short-term illnesses and long-term liver disease.
World Hepatitis Day highlights the need to accelerate the fight against viral hepatitis and the importance of testing and treatment for those in need. The “I can’t wait” campaign brought to us by World Hepatitis Alliance, amplifies the voices of those affected demanding immediate action and the end of the stigma and discrimination attached.
Currently there are 325 million people who live with hepatitis globally with more than 1.1 million lives lost to hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
It is important to note that the use of appropriate quality control measures is vital in ensuring the appropriate daily performance of the assay used in the laboratory independent of the technology.
Features & Benefits of Randox Molecular Blood Borne Virus (BBV) Controls
- Traceable to International Standard (where available) or to Internal Reference Material
- Liquid frozen for user convenience and ease of use
- The panels are suitable for use with the majority of commercial and in-house molecular methods
- Manufactured to ISO: 13485 quality standards
Download brochure here
In addition to this, we have our third party Infectious Disease (Serology) Controls which are designed to deliver a cost-effective, high-quality solution for the analysis of infectious disease. Our controls are compatible for use on wide range of immunoassay platforms.
Features and Benefits
- Liquid ready to use – All samples are provided in a user-friendly, liquid ready-to-use format significantly reducing preparation time and the risk of pipetting errors.
- Commutability- Manufactured from human plasma each control is designed to react to the test system in the same manner as the patient sample, helping to meet ISO 15189:2012 requirements.
- True third-party controls – Designed to deliver an independent, unbiased assessment of performance with any instrument or method the Acusera range will help to meet ISO 15189:2012 requirements and eliminate the need for multiple instrument specific controls.
- Reduced waste – With a working stability of 60 days art 2oc to 8oC waste and costs are kept to a minimum.
- Consolidation – The availability of multi-marker controls will reduce the number of individual controls required ultimately reducing costs, time, and storage space.
- Clinically relevant – Designed to challenge clinically relevant ranges our low reactive samples will ensure accurate and reliable instrument performance.
- Acusera 24.7 – Our Acusera Infectious Disease (Serology) Controls are compatible for use with our interlaboratory data management software Acusera 24.7.
For more information about Third party Infectious Disease (Serology) Controls:
Visit our website: Serology Quality Controls
Or email: qualitycontrol@randox.com
Serology Control
Serology Brochure
Molecular IQC
Resource Hub
Celebrating Lp(a) Awareness Day 2022 today!
Randox are raising awareness for Lipoprotein(a), we want to drive awareness on tests that are available to you to decrease the risk of stroke, heart attack or other heart diseases.
Lp(a) is a risk factor for atherosclerosis and related diseases including CHD and stroke. It is increasingly recognised as the strongest known genetic risk factor for premature coronary artery disease. The biggest challenge that exists surrounding Lp(a) measurement is the heterogeneity of the apolipoprotein(a) isoforms, resulting in the underestimation or overestimation of Lp(a) concentrations.
Benefits of the Randox Lp(a) assay
WHO/IFCC reference material – The Randox Lp(a) assay is calibrated in nmol/l and traceable to the WHO/IFCC reference material (IFCC SRM 2B) and provides an acceptable bias compared with the Northwest Lipid Metabolism Diabetes Research Laboratory (NLMDRKL) gold standard method.
Dedicated calibrator & control available – Five point calibrator with accuracy-based assigned target values (in nmol/l) is available, accurately reflecting the heterogeneity of the apo(a) isoforms. Dedicated Lp(a) control is available offering a complete testing package.
Excellent correlation – A correlation coefficient of r=0.995 was displayed when the Randox method was compared against other commercially available methods.
Excellent precision – The Randox Lp(a) assay displayed a within run precision of <2.54%.
Liquid ready-to-use – The Randox Lp(a) assay is available in a liquid ready-to-use format for convenience and ease-of-use.
Applications available – Instrument-specific settings can be provided for a wide range of clinical chemistry analysers.
The biggest challenge that exists surrounding Lp(a) measurement is the heterogeneity of the apo(a) isoforms, resulting in the underestimation or overestimation of Lp(a) concentrations. In immunoassays, the variable numbers of repeated KIV-2 units in Lp(a) act as multiple epitopes. This is where standardisation across calibrators is vital. Unless the calibrants do have the same range of isoforms as test samples, those with higher numbers of the KIV-2 repeat, will represent with an overestimation in Lp(a) concentrations and those with smaller numbers of the KIV-2 repeat, will represent with an underestimation. The smaller isoforms are strongly associated with higher Lp(a) concentrations. Lack of standardisation of the calibrant would result in an underestimation of Lp(a) associated CVD risk. It is important to note that an Lp(a) immunoassay employing isoform insensitive antibodies does not exist.
DID YOU KNOW?
Lp(a) has been identified to be a key risk factor for cardiovascular complications in individuals with COVID-19!
It is well documented that pre-existing comorbidities such as diabetes and CVD are associated with greater severity and higher fatality rates in those with COVID-19. Those with either baseline elevated Lp(a) or those whose Lp(a) levels increased following infection from COVID-19, or both, maybe at a significantly increased risk of developing thromboses. Elevated Lp(a) levels may cause acute destabilisation of pre-existing but quiescent, atherosclerotic plaques, which could induce an acute myocardial infarction or stroke.
Identifying any possible health conditions that would relate to early signs of stroke, heart attack or other heart diseases will allow you to make any decisions on an appropriate diet, lifestyle changes and early treatment to reduce your risk of further problems.
For more information about Lp(a):
Visit our website: Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] | Reagents | Randox Laboratories
Or email: marketing@randox.com
Lp(a) Calibrator
Lp(a) Control
Lipid EQA Scheme
Reagents Resource Hub
World Health Day 2021
7th April 2021
Building a fairer, healthier world
World Health Day is a global health awareness day celebrated every year on 7th April, under the sponsorship of the World Health Organisation (WHO) who sees it as an opportunity to draw worldwide attention to a subject of major importance to global health. Each year is related to a particular theme and this year’s focus is “building a fairer, healthier world”.
In view of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic where restrictions remain in place across most parts of the world, this time has highlighted that some people are able to live healthier lives and have better access to health services than others. COVID-19 has hit all countries hard, but its impact has been harshest on those communities which were already vulnerable, who are more exposed to the disease, less likely to have access to quality health care services and more likely to experience adverse consequences as a result of measures implemented to contain the pandemic, placing additional stress on healthcare systems across the world.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted and even halted particular health services with most countries (90%) reporting that many routine and elective services have been suspended, while critical care – such as cancer screening and treatment and HIV therapy has seen high-risk interruptions (WHO, 2020).
“the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.” (WHO, 2021).
Randox has adapted to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic by developing pioneering tests to diagnose COVID-19, offering a range of COVID-19 testing solutions using Randox’s patented Biochip Technology capable of conducting multiple tests simultaneously on a range of molecular testing platforms, with results available from the Vivalytic, Evidence Investigator and Randox Discovery.
With a game-changing global partnership formed between Randox Laboratories and Bosch Healthcare Solutions combining science and technology, successfully launching the Vivalytic – the all in one solution for molecular diagnostics, the Vivalytic has been designed against the challenges posed by climate change and to contribute towards sustainability. The Vivalytic cartridges are CO2 neutral – this means that emissions that are in our direct sphere of influence are neutralised – making a further contribution to climate protection.
Furthermore, Randox’s vision is to improve healthcare worldwide and to ensure physicians and the public have access to the latest advancements in clinical diagnostics to aid diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients. Randox offer a comprehensive biochip test menu to support and combat challenges facing global health on an everyday basis from testing for Chronic Lung Disease (CLD) to predicting Alzheimers Disease. View Randox’s full Biochip Technology Immunoassay test menu here.
Please contact marketing@randox.com for further information on any of the mentioned above.