Ballymena woman leads Queen’s team to science victory

The annual competition, sponsored by Bank of Ireland, is designed to showcase the innovative research, ideas and inventions with the most commercial potential from our universities.

A range of medical diagnosic tests being developed by ProAx-SiS will enable routine monitoring of patients with chronic conditions such as cystic fibrosis, either within a clinic or at home.

The product scooped the top £10,000 prize at the recent Awards in the Titanic Belfast building, next to the Northern Ireland Science Park in the city’s Titanic Quarter.

Dr Lorraine Martin, who led the winning team, hopes the testing kit could be of use to developing nations.

Formerly of Cullybackey Road and a past pupil of Ballymena Academy, Dr Martin is currently Senior Lecturer in Molecular Pharmaceutics within the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s University and returned to live in Ballymena seven years ago.

She is CEO and co-founder of ProAx-SiS, a spin-out from Queen’s, and entered it in the 25K competition back in May when it was selected as one of 10 finalists after a quick-pitch event at W5. After being assessed on the submission of a business plan, ProAx-SiS reached the final at Titanic on September 26.

Dr Martin told the Ballymena Times: “We are delighted to win the NISP Connect 25K award and feel that it is a fantastic endorsement of our technology and business plan. The prize will give us a foothold on the commercial ladder as we move towards securing external investment.

“The work has been supported by a Proof of Concept Award from Invest Northern Ireland and academic grants from the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (USA), however, we feel it is now the right time to transfer the technology to a commercial platform in order to have the first test available for chronic respiratory disease patients such as those with cystic fibrosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) within three years.

“We believe this test will have significant impact on this group of patients in terms of monitoring lung health and improving outcome and will have further economic benefits through a reduction in the number of potential hospitalisations.”

Steve Orr, NISP Connect Director, said: “The £25k Awards offer a showcase for regional research talent to display world-class innovations, as well as providing a valuable training and development process as they move beyond the initial stages. NISP Connect programmes are designed to inspire, encourage and nurture local technology entrepreneurs during conception, growth and improvement stages, and to continue that process to help them reach their goals.”