AUT University partnering with leading diagnostic company

AUT University partnering with market leading diagnostic company

AUT University is proud to announce the opening of the AUT Roche Diagnostics Laboratory. The laboratory collaboration is the first of its kind in New Zealand and will provide undergraduate and postgraduate students access to the latest scientific evaluations in chemistry, immunology, and haematology.

The new laboratory will also be used for research and development of new molecular tests for the detection of pathogens and their emerging variants such as the flu virus.

AUT Vice Chancellor Derek McCormack says, “The University’s collaboration with Roche is further demonstration that AUT provides our students with a ‘real world’ learning experience as this laboratory has state of the art facilities which are used in industry. This collaborative relationship between AUT and Roche Diagnostics is an excellent example of a productive research partnership and industry investment.

“At Roche Diagnostics, we are eager to be involved in helping the future of the medical laboratory science community to be as well-equipped as possible when entering the workforce. We also believe that the research that will be done in the new laboratory will be world leading in the area of pathogen detection”, says Dr Lara Hashimoto, General Manager of Roche Diagnostics.

The project has been led by AUT Immunology Senior Lecturer Dr Fabrice Merien (School of Applied Sciences) and his work has been instrumental in the success of the partnership.

“This collaboration has been in the works for more than a year and we have already seen amazing results from the partnership. The feedback from industry regarding our graduates that have trained in the laboratory has been universally positive“, says Dr Merien.

Scientific and medical education is an important part of this partnership. An example of this is the educational forum organised by Roche Diagnostics NZ and AUT which was held earlier in the year on ‘A local and global perspective on cervical screening with HPV’. Two prestigious guest speakers were invited (Thomas Wright, Professor of Pathology at Columbia University Medical Centre, New York and Dr Marion Saville from the Victorian Cytology Service, Melbourne). This forum provided a great opportunity for AUT and Roche Diagnostics NZ to show their professional commitment towards better health for women in New Zealand.

The collaboration agreement extends beyond the laboratory to academic collaboration, including the judging of scientific posters at the Roche Diagnostics New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting, co-sponsoring the New Zealand Institute of Medical Laboratory Science poster session and teaching, with Roche Product Specialists and engineers training students on how to use and maintain the instruments.

ENDS

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