Welcome to our newsletter, containing the latest news from the Quadram Institute.
The newsletter provides a snapshot of the latest developments in the institute. The newsletter also covers recent scientific highlights and achievements from our researchers, along with news of some of the exciting new projects we are launching.
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August 2024 edition
In this issue discover our latest work to work nationally and internationally to ensuring food safety, plus our latest research highlights and news.
We cover our recent work including investigating the role of gut bacteria in breast cancer, a collaboration to develop new microbial therapies and how bacteriophages could help treat wastewater.
Plus find out how you can help our Food and Nutrition team study how the nutrition of school dinners have changed over the decades and opportunities to get involved with research.
May 2024 edition
In this issue we bring you some of the research highlights and other news from across the Quadram Institute.
We feature the news that our Director, Professor Ian Charles OBE, has decided to stand down from this role in October 2024. Prof Charles was recently awarded the OBE for services to scientific discoveries and clinical research.
Other news highlights include a comprehensive survey of how the nutritional qualities of plant-based food products compare with their meat counterparts, and how bacterial commnities may help foodborne pathogens survive in food production facilities.
February 2024 edition
In this issue we bring you the latest news and research findings from the Quadram Institute as we continue our ground-breaking research in food, microbes and health.
This issue features news about major new investment for research into engineering biology, antimicrobial resistance surveillance and food spoilage, as well as Fellowships working on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.
You can also find out the winners of our Advanced Microscopy Facility’s Image of the Year Competition, and check out the amazing imagery our researchers have been generating during the course of their research.
November 2023 edition
In this issue we bring you the latest news and science breakthroughs from across the Quadram Institute as we continue our ground-breaking research in food, microbes and health.
We look at a number of studies that have used the latest in genomics to understand the threats certain microbes pose to our health. From local monitoring of Salmonella on foods and urinary tract infections in Norfolk, to international studies on sepsis in neonatal babies and the spread of antimicrobial resistant S. Typhi in Zimbabwe, our researchers are developing new tools for surveillance and control of the causative agents for a range of diseases. One such tool, a rapid sequencing solution to detect drug-resistant tuberculosis under development with Oxford Nanopore is among the first sequencing-based tests to be supported by the WHO.
July 2023 edition
In this issue we bring you news of investment of £55 million into Quadram Institute Bioscience from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. This five-year funding award will support two strategic programmes; Food Microbiome and Health, and Microbes and Food Safety, as well as the the Food & Nutrition National Bioscience Research Infrastructure.
We also celebrate the award of an OBE to our Director, Professor Ian Charles, who has been recognised for a lifetime of pioneering research in the King’s Birthday Honours.
The newsletter also rounds up the latest research news from acorss the institute, including recent publications on how the microbiome helps to keep us healthy, from birth and throughout life, new research into the health benefits of cellular chickpea flour PulseON, latest developements in phage biology, and as well as new trials into innovative ways of improving the nutritional status of vegans and vegetarians.
Winter 2022/23 edition
In this issue of the Quadram Institute newsletter, we welcome Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser, to the Quadram Institute during a visit to the Norwich Research Park. Sir Patrick Vallance, along with the Chief Scientific Adviser at the Food Standards Agency, Prof. Robin May, visited the Quadram Institute on 6 February and Sir Patrick unveiled a plaque marking the formal opening of the institute.
The newsletter also brings you some of our recent research highlights, including studies from across then institute that have deepened our understanding of important challenges, such as antimicrobial resistance, cancer and foodborne pathogens.
There is also a look at new projects, including the launch of a new Innovation Hub for research into biofortification, a new study into bacteriophages in the microbiome, and much more on the research and otehr activities of the staff and students in the Quadram Institute.
Summer 2022 edition
In this issue of the Quadram Institute newsletter, we feature recent studies that have started to unpick the mechanisms behind how the gut microbiome influences health, a major focus of our research strategy.
The newsletter also brings you recent studies from across then institute, including intriguing insights into how diet and microbes are involved in the battle against chronic age-related disease.
We also look at some of the latest research that’s helping combat foodborne pathogens. The new Food Safety Research Network, based at the Quadram Institute, will help bring this knowledge help to the food industry and to help food safety and food waste.
Winter 2021/22 edition
In this issue of the newsletter, we look at some of the excellent, impactful science our researchers continue to deliver, and a look at some recent research that has helped us, and the wider world, get through the COVID-19 pandemic.
The newsletter covers a whole range of research into food, health and microbes, from the potential for kitchen gardens to help us get the micronutrients we need, to tackling diet-related diseases through the development of healthier starch in our food, to unravelling the mysteries of our gut microbiome and its role in the development of cancers.
As we continue to support the Department of Health and UK Health Security Agency with ongoing COVID-19 genomic surveillance, we look at some examples of where what we learn from sequencing viral genomes is making real impacts on our understanding of how the virus spreads, on a local, national and international scale.
Summer 2021 edition
In this issue, we have a focus on the microbiome, with a look at some of the recent findings coming out of our research in this area, as well as exciting new projects on its links to health.
It provides a snapshot of how our interdisciplinary research in food, microbes and health is answering some of the key questions in microbiome research: how does the microbiome establish and persist? How does its composition, and the activities of those microbes influence our health?
We also look back on the the past year which has seen the UK and much of the world coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, and reflect on how we coped with the challenges not only in combatting the virus, but also on our daily lives and research.
Winter 2021 edition
In this issue, we reflect on the last 12 months that has seen the COVID-19 pandemic sweep the world.
The newsletter includes a focus on how the QI team working as part of the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium (COG-UK) have been able provide vital public health information, and knowledge about the spread of the pandemic, through genome sequencing.
We also look at the continuing research from across the Quadram Institute, with some exciting developments coming from our work on developing innovative foods for health, as well as in understanding more the threats from bacterial pathogens.
Summer 2020 edition
In this issue, we bring you updates on the rapid response to the coronavirus pandemic coming out of the Quadram Institute. Our scientists have moved quickly to support the frontline efforts and to understand and control the virus.
We also welcome new faces to the QIB Board of Trustees, including a new chair, Dr Celia Caulcott.
We also highlight the ground-breaking research across the institutes, with new evidence for how some bacteria boost the health of premature babies, and others adapt in biofilms, exacerbating antimicrobial resistance. We also look at OMVs, which bacteria use to communicate, and their role in gut health, including a case study of how we are tapping into this to develop better vaccines.
Plus there’s exciting new resources for teachers with the launch of the Guardians of the Gut online educational resources, and a new free online course coming up on the microbiome and human health.
Spring 2020 edition
In this issue, we bring you breaking news of some of the ways in which Quadram Institute researchers have joined colleagues across the Norwich Research Park and in the wider global scientific community in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.
We also highlight some of the other collaborations that are helping us tackle global challenges in food and health. We currently have we have people from 45 nations working together to improve human health and discover how food and the gut microbiome can help us all live healthier lives.
As well as welcoming researchers and clinicians from across the world, we’re working across borders to help enhance global health. Epitomising this approach, QI researchers are part of consortia of leading experts brought together to uncover the survival secrets of Salmonella, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. These projects are characterised by their use of cutting-edge genomics techniques and we continue to lead the development of new platforms with the release of TraDIS-Xpress.
Autumn 2019 edition
This issue highlights recent research breakthroughs at the Quadram Institute (QI) that could have positive impacts on public health. Working with clinicians our researchers have shown how the latest sequencing technologies can aid in diagnostics and surveillance. Coupling these techniques with ‘Big Data’ analytical approaches will be vital to addressing 21st century population health challenges, and the QI aims to be a leader in this area.
Big Data in the NHS was the topic of a roundtable discussion I attended with Patricia Hart at the policy development think tank Reform. This roundtable was sponsored by QI and explored how universities and industry can work with government to realise potential applications of Big Data. The event was chaired by Baroness Blackwood, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and included senior policy-makers, public service practioners, academics and industry leaders.
We continue to build our team and are pleased to welcome Professor Cynthia Whitchurch to the QI. Cynthia is settng up a research group investigating bacterial lifestyles, and how these make them more infectious or resistant to antimicrobials. Cynthia joins us from the ithree institute at the University of Technology Sydney. Her research led to the discovery that extracellular DNA is required for biofilm development.
Spring 2019 edition
This is an exciting time, as 300 scientists and support staff have moved into our new building. These researchers will be studying food, microbes and the gut to get a better understanding of how these interact to influence our health.
This move brings excellent science and research programmes strategically funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, under the same roof as a major new endoscopy unit and the Clinical Research Facility of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. This is a unique partnership in a fantastic new building and presents us with huge opportunities to improve our understanding of the impact of food on health, and particularly how this influences healthy ageing for the UK population.
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