Duo adapted, innovated and delivered Two LUHFT biomedical scientists, Hannah Williams and Emma Larne, have been recognised in the 2021 Chief Scientific Officer’s Excellence in Healthcare Science Awards. The pair scooped the Healthcare Science Rising Star award for their contribution in helping to implement large-scale asymptomatic COVID-19 testing for LUHFT staff and NHS workers across the region. Working in Liverpool Clinical Laboratories (LCL) the duo have been pivotal to the success of new technology, such as the OptiGene RT-LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification) test, which rapidly processes saliva samples to detect for COVID-19. The lab can now process up to 10,000 samples per week, which helps protect patients 10 | LUHFT Life
and colleagues by rapidly identifying any individuals with asymptomatic COVID-19. When LCL were selected to validate this new test for the Cheshire and Merseyside region in 2021, Hannah and Emma stepped into leadership roles as COVID-19 LAMP Laboratory Operations Managers to develop and advance this newly established technology into a meaningful service. The lab now processes the highest volume of tests in the country - an impressive 400,000 samples since the project began.
