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Prof Gipi Schiavo is core technology platforms lead. He tells us about developing the concept of bench-to-bedside-and-back-again research and why day zero is even more important that day one.
Professor Giampietro Schiavo is Deputy Director for strategy at Queen Square Institute of Neurology, academic lead of the Alzheimer Research UK Drug Discovery Institute at UCL, group leader at the UK DRI at UCL and Professor of Cellular Neuroscience in the department of Neuromuscular Diseases. He is the core technology platform lead for the ION-DRI project.
My involvement in the project started, when I was appointed as deputy director (alongside Linda Greensmith) in 2019.
This was a very important time - the issue of whether we would re-develop Queen Square House was still under discussion. It became clear that to host the UK DRI and everyone at Queen Square House would be virtually impossible, within the constraints imposed by the small footprint and location of Queen Square House. Then, almost out of the blue, the Grays Inn Road site came up, and the entire project evolved at lightning speed thanks to the support of the community, the Faculty of Brain Sciences and UCL as a whole.
The project is the work of a whole community – a massive team that, day after day, put in an enormous effort to deliver it. That requires a lot of resilience, energy and a clear goal in mind. That’s a beautiful thing, and I truly believe that the final result will reflect this shared goal.
“The project is the work of a whole community. That’s a beautiful thing, and I truly believe that the final result will reflect [our] shared goal.
The implementation of translational neuroscience on a daily basis was one of the biggest motivations for me to come to Queen Square. Developing a future for basic and clinical activities aimed to the delivery of novel treatments for neurological diseases was a dream that came true.
This aspiration towards curing neurological diseases that are seen in patients every day at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery has always been there, but it has been difficult to implement, because the translational pathway was heavily fragmented.
This project gave us the opportunity to defragment this endeavour and create a pipeline that covers many aspects of this long, expensive and highly challenging process.
“Bench-to-bedside-and-back-again - it’s a highly reiterative process called bi-directional translation, which we believe will change the speed, efficiency and quality of novel treatments.
We look closely at work developing on the bench and enable the transfer of these discoveries to the clinic. However, the process does not stop here: the results of the clinical work are then reflected back on future work done at the bench. Bench-to-bedside-and-back-again - it’s a highly reiterative process called bi-directional translation, which we believe will change the speed, efficiency and quality of novel treatments.
Over the last decade, there have been multiple ventures towards combating this defragmentation: creating a drug discovery unit with the help of Alzheimer Research UK, establishing the Leonard Wolfson Experimental Neurology clinical research facility and the arrival of the UK DRI with a basic science focus into neurodegeneration, to cite a few.
Lots of different activities spanning basic and clinical research, but all essential for the final goal of delivering new discoveries and new cures for neurological diseases. This is the challenge of the project – bringing together many essential parts to deliver a truly effective, bidirectional translational pipeline.
“The best way to welcome the community into the new building is to have a building that’s fit for purpose and operational from the start. Day zero is more important than day one....
The core tech platforms in the building will be absolutely transformational for progress. They’ll support the work of the whole research community hosted in the new building. We surveyed PIs and clinical and basic researchers at Queen Square to clearly identify which core technologies are needed. As a result, we came up with a package that we need on site from day one to deliver the Institute’s mission.
Nowadays it’s impossible for a single lab to master all the technologies necessary for their research. For example, in my lab, we are using proteomics, microscopy, iPSC technology, tissue analysis…all these require investment, planning and expertise that that go beyond what a single lab can provide.
I'm most looking forward to the sense of community that the new centre will inspire – having everything on hand, the ability to meet my colleagues and have a really collective work experience.“
I believe that the project’s biggest challenge is planning its set up. In this regard, day zero is even more important than day one. The best way to welcome the community into the new building is to have a building that’s fit for purpose and operational from the start. So, it’s about testing, testing, testing and anticipating problems before the move.
When we move in, I'm most looking forward to the sense of community that the new centre will inspire – having everything on hand, the ability to meet my colleagues and have a really collective work experience.