Head of IARC Biobank honoured with Healthcare Technologies Award

Dr Zisis Kozlakidis, Head of the Laboratory Services and Biobank Group at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and the team behind the Infection Response through Virus Genomics (ICONIC) project have received the Healthcare Technologies Award at the Institution of Engineering and Technology Awards.

The ICONIC project, which took place in 2013–2018, developed a viral genome sequencing technique, from a tool used relatively rarely in basic research into a routine part of the United Kingdom’s National Health Service diagnostic arsenal. The technique enables triage of patients, to improve care and better control the spread of infectious outbreaks.

Dr Kozlakidis led the overseas implementations of the project. “We are proud to have addressed a significant clinical need with a team consisting of many partners,” he says, noting the achievement of “implementing and testing this experience in many locations abroad, especially in low- and-middle-income countries, where the need is most acute.”

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