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Test and treat

20 October 2005

Dr Helen Lee receives the Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran 2005 Award for her contribution to the application of technology to diagnostic development

Dr Helen Lee delivered the Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran Award Lecture on 19 October 2005. The Award is made each year to "a person who has applied science and technology for the benefit of society". Previous recipients include Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the 'father of the internet', James Dyson, the inventor of the cyclone vacuum cleaner, Tim Smit, the Chief Executive of the Eden Project, and Ian Wilmut, the leader of the team that cloned Dolly the sheep.

Dr Lee's citation by the Foundation for Science and Technology states that the award has been made for "her contribution to the application of technology to diagnostic development and the creation of 'test and treat' regimes".

Dr Lee, Reader in Medical Biotechnology at the Department of Haematology of the University of Cambridge, has dedicated her career to diagnostics development and over the last 10 years has focused her efforts on developing diagnostic kits that serve the needs of developing countries.

In her lecture, Dr Lee explained that the diagnostics currently used for the detection of infectious diseases are often ill-suited to the needs of developing countries because they are complex, time-consuming and require highly-trained personnel as well as expensive instruments and test kits. In addition, the tests are often not sufficiently stable in conditions of high temperature and high humidity.

In order to ensure that resource-limited settings as wide a group as possible benefit from the tests developed by her team, Dr Lee co-founded a spin-out company, Diagnostics for the Real World, in 2002, with the scientists in her group and the University of Cambridge, as well as the Wellcome Trust as equity holders.

"The company aims to ensure that developing countries have access to appropriate, simple, rapid, high-quality yet inexpensive diagnostic tests," said Dr Lee. "This means that product development priorities are not always based on purely for-profit motives. Another underpinning principle is that tests for developing countries must be of the same quality as those for developed countries."

Notes for Editors:

1. Dr Lee is a Reader in Medical Biotechnology and Head of the Diagnostic Development Unit at the University of Cambridge. She was presented with the Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran Award for her pioneering work to develop low-cost and innovative diagnostic testing kits.

2. The purpose of the Foundation for Science and Technology is to provide a neutral platform for debate of policy issues that have a science, engineering or technology element.

3. The Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran Award Lecture commemorates the rich life of the second Chairman and first President of the Foundation, the Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran. The Foundation makes an award each year of £2,000 to a person who has applied science and technology for the benefit of society. The award is made as near as possible to the time of benefit to society. Nominations are reviewed by a screening committee of the Presidents of The Royal Society (Lord May), The Royal Academy of Engineering (Lord Broers) and Lord Soulsby of Swaffam Prior, chaired by the Rt Hon the Lord Jenkin of Roding, the Foundation's Chairman.

4. A person (or persons) worthy of the Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran Award should have developed a product or service:

a. for which an outstanding benefit to society can be established;

b. has used science or technology in an innovative way; and

c. has integrated ideas across disciplines.

5. Over the course of her extensive career in the diagnostic industry, Dr Lee realised that the diagnostic needs of developing countries were not being met in corporate R&D settings. Committed to the development of tests for those who need them the most, Dr Lee left industry in 1995 and moved to the University of Cambridge with three other industry scientists, and founded a diagnostic development unit with seed funding from the World Health Organization, the US National Institutes of Health and the Wellcome Trust. The unit targets infectious diseases such as chlamydiaChlamydia, HIV and hepatitis that affect millions of people around the world, particularly in developing countries.

6. To date, her team has developed a Chlamydia Rapid Test that uses non-invasive and easy to collect samples and gives a result in less than 30 minutes. It has also developed a sample collection device that has won the 2003 Medical Futures Innovation Awards. This rapid test allows the healthcare worker to test and treat patients on site. This 'test and treat' regime has significant public health benefits since delays between diagnosis and treatment are avoided by the immediate on-site treatment. It also circumvents the problem of patients not returning for treatment.

7. In order to ensure that tests are sold to developing countries at an affordable price, the company will have a two-tier pricing strategy - selling tests at market price in developed countries, while selling them at cost (plus a small mark-up) in developing countries.

For more information, contact:

• 1. Karen Dean, Press and Publications Office, University of Cambridge. Tel: 01223 765542; email: karen.dean@admin.cam.ac.uk

  2. Dr Dougal Goodman, Director, The Foundation for Science and Technology. Tel: 020 7321 2220; email: office@foundation.org.uk web site: www.foundation.org.uk