SHEFFIELD UNIVERSITY FELLOW SHOWS THE WAY

A Sheffield University-based research fellow will be competing next week for an award worth £2,000 to assist her in her bioscience venture.

Doctor Josephine Bunch, a Bioscience Yorkshire Enterprise Fellow, will be one of five shortlisted bio-entrepreneurs that will be presenting their research and its associated commercial potential during a special Technology Showcase at this year’s White Rose Bioscience Forum.

The Technology Showcase, run by Connect Yorkshire, the organisation which primes technology companies for growth, will be giving the brightest new bioscience talent from the region the chance to vie for the £2,000 award, sponsored by Bioscience York.

Dr Bunch’s research in the field of mass spectrometry involves advanced analytical technologies that are adapted to the imaging of chemical composition and physical structures. Working in a manner similar to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Dr Bunch’s research combines a number of mass spectrometry technologies to create maps, or detailed pictures, of the chemistry being analysed.

Mass spectrometry is a powerful analytical technique used to identify unknown compounds, quantify known compounds and to elucidate the structure and chemical properties of molecules. Detection of these compounds can be accomplished with minute quantities, which means compounds can be identified at very low concentrations in chemically complex mixtures.

As a result, this technology can be applied to everything from detecting and identifying the use of steroids in athletes to determining gene damage from environmental causes.

“My work offers a novel combination of technologies which when used in combination are IP (Intellectual Property) protected, offering full species coverage,” explained Dr Bunch. “The Technology Showcase gives me the opportunity for both promotion and the realisation of the commercial potential of my research.”

Nick Butler, executive director of Connect Yorkshire, said: “Bio-entrepreneurs such as Dr Bunch are at the leading edge of scientific advances. Having them based in Yorkshire is great news for the region and the UK as a whole.”

The sixth annual White Rose Bioscience Forum runs from 31 October – 1 November at the Central Science Laboratory, York. The Technology Showcase award will be presented to the most promising business proposition by Gareth Lloyd-Jones of Bioscience York, on Wednesday 1 November.