WITH preventative healthcare on the rise, medical technology and innovation is playing an increasingly important role to support the health of Asia’s ageing populations, which the Asian Development Bank predicts will reach 922.7 million by the middle of this century.
Amid this growing demand for healthcare services, industry and academia are collaborating more closely to transform education in the field of medical laboratory science. The Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and leading diagnostic company Roche Diagnostics Laboratory launched one such industry-academia partnership last June. The collaboration between AUT and Roche Diagnostics established a new research laboratory — the first of its kind in New Zealand. It provides undergraduate and graduate students with access to the latest scientific evaluations in chemistry, immunology and haematology.
The new campus laboratory also gives students a platform for research and development of new molecular tests for the detection of pathogens and their emerging variants as well as the opportunity for in-depth hands-on industry training, which will greatly help them as they start and progress their careers in medical laboratory science.
The university said training in the laboratory will equip students well for the workplace, enabling them to highlight to potential employers which diagnostic machines they are experienced with and which assays they have done.
“The university’s collaboration with Roche is further demonstration that AUT provides our students with a real world learning experience that equips them for the job market as this laboratory has state-of-the-art facilities which are used in industry,” said AUT vice-chancellor Derek McCormack.
“This collaborative relationship between AUT and Roche Diagnostics is an excellent example of a productive research partnership and industry investment.”
Roche Diagnostics general manager Dr Lara Hashimoto is a strong advocate of this collaboration.
“At Roche Diagnostics, we are so excited 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,” Dr Hashimoto said.
Indeed, the university has already received encouraging feedback from employers in the industry since the partnership was first initiated a year ago.
“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 trained in the laboratory has been universally positive,” said AUT School of Applied Sciences Immunology senior lecturer Dr Fabrice Merien, who is also Roche Diagnostics Laboratory director.
The collaborative relationship between AUT and Roche Diagnostics also extends beyond the laboratory.
Earlier in the year, both parties organised an educational forum on cervical screening, which provided a great opportunity for the university and Roche Diagnostics to show their professional commitment towards better health for women in New Zealand.
To learn more about AUT go to www.aut.ac.nz or www.studyinnewzealand.com to find out more about education opportunities in New Zealand.