Meet the NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility (CRF) laboratory team

What is the NIHR Southampton CRF laboratory?

Our laboratory is responsible for the first processing steps performed after a clinical trial sample is obtained from a consenting participant.

We use a range of equipment and methods to support around 350 different studies. They cover a wide range of areas such as cancer, ophthalmology, general medicine, paediatric, vaccines and many more.

With a wealth of experience, the team can contribute to everything from first in human phase I studies through to significantly larger studies. A recent highlight was supporting the delivery of CovBoost, which informed the UK's COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

How does your team support research in our university-hospital partnership?

Our laboratory supports research occurring not just in the CRF, but across the whole trust. We cover both commercial and non-commercial studies.

Samples come to us from many different locations. These include surgical theatres, the Emergency Department, wards and even the Princess Anne Hospital. This is thanks to the diligence of research and trust wide nurses, midwives, clinical trial assistants and doctors. We even receive samples from the Royal South Hants hospital in the city centre.

We are proud to support the delivery of research that could benefit patients for years to come.

Who is in the CRF lab team?

The CRF team is currently comprised of Gavin Babbage (laboratory manager), Phedra Marius (deputy laboratory manager), Emily Locke, Rebekah Allen, Holly Firrell, Jevan Hales, Thomas Honey and Gift Ugborhioba.

We also receive support from the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) respiratory laboratory team. This consists of Anastasia De La Haye (respiratory research laboratory lead), Aidan Lingwood and Darcy Clark.

While the managers and deputy managers spend a large amount of time in meetings and answering emails, the whole team process, document and ship the samples.

The entire team has repeatedly been praised at high levels within the trust and as their manager (Gavin) I am incredibly proud of each and every one of them.

How can staff get in touch?

If you have any laboratory-based questions or would like to learn more about what we do, we’d love to hear from you. Please do reach out to us on CRFlab@uhs.nhs.uk.