Realigning disease and pathological processes in a functional and translational manner requires an integrated approach. Basic scientists and clinicians need to work together, using the latest generation tools to provide industry with advice on drug performance, feed scientific knowledge into early clinical trial design, and apply new principles of experimental medicine to early-phase clinical trials. The Immunophenotyping facility at the ITM provides a novel platform to address this.

Strategically placed on the fifth floor of the ITM, this facility provides a unique academic-led service that will catalyse scientific and clinical input in an integrated structure, supporting the design and delivery of complex biological assays aimed at patient stratification and pathway validation.

The facility provides access to:

• ITM cohorts to perform pathway discovery, target validation, and patient stratification in comprehensively studied patients.
• The services of the Birmingham Human Biomaterials Resource Centre, including human tissue processing, automated platforms for immunocytochemistry and immunofluorescence staining (VECTRA System), and last-generation digital imaging analysis software (Definiens).
• Last-generation flow cytometry and mass spectrometry platforms, including CytoF, enabling the processing of freshly digested human and mouse tissue (lymphoid organs, synovium, gut, liver, salivary glands, etc.), blood from patients, and in vitro stimulated/treated cells.
• OMICS platforms, including mass spectrometry, transcriptomics, and metabolomics, in collaboration with experts in relevant areas of expertise.
• Comprehensively trained personnel, experts in the latest generation tools for patient stratification and functional tests with human and murine cells.

The Healthcare Technologies Institute laboratory facility is made up of 750 square foot of laboratory space on the third floor of the Institute of Translational Medicine. The HTI includes lab space for wet chemistry, cell culture, imaging and manufacturing to support the advancement of new technologies and treatments to encourage better tissue healing and rehabilitation tools.

Situated within the Institute of Translational Medicine, MD-TEC is a state-of-the-art facility with a fully equipped operating room with the latest in surgical and anaesthetic equipment, a configurable ward area which can be set up as a critical care unit, an emergency department, or a more general ward. There is a large open space which can be configured as an outpatient clinic, physiotherapy unit or a domestic living space. Extensive use is made of HD/4K video recording from multiple angles with remote viewing and streaming capabilities.