Friendship link brings benefit to UniversityThe links between Loughborough's two major employers, medicines
research company AstraZeneca R&D Charnwood and Loughborough University have
been strengthened by the donation of sophisticated laboratory
equipment.
The equipment, a Liquid Scintillation Counter, measures the
amount of radioactivity in liquid samples and a new machine would cost around
£30,000. However, as Gill Hilsdon, PR Manager at AstraZeneca said "The
company has recently installed a new Information Management System into one of
its science departments where work is underway to discover new medicines for
diseases such as asthma, bronchitis and arthritis. The older one of its three
Liquid Scintillation Counters was not compatible, so was surplus to
requirements. Whenever we have surplus, but still very useful equipment
available, we always look to donate it to schools or universities. In this case
the equipment has gone to Loughborough University's Chemistry department."
Visiting AstraZeneca to receive the equipment was Professor
Peter Warwick, an expert in Environmental Radiochemistry and also Director of
the Centre for Environmental Studies at the University."We are extremely grateful to AstraZeneca for making the
donation of this LSC. It will supplement the instruments we already have in the
department and prove to be a valuable aid in both the teaching and the research
work carried out in the department. An LSC is a valuable tool which measures
how much radioactivity there is in various pre-made liquid samples and is used
in a wide range of research applications. It will not only benefit staff and
researchers at the university but will also assist our undergraduates in their
practical studies."Ends
