Science and diagnostics are fascinating – at least that’s what we at Sysmex believe. When the opportunity comes along to fuel excitement for science together with other knowledge providers, we take it.
Sysmex Europe GmbH is supporting the Heinrich Pette Institute, Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology and the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (both in Hamburg, Germany) in their efforts to bring science and diagnostic solutions to the public with a donation of more than 60 Sysmex CyScope microscopes. Both institutes are planning to use the microscopes outside of their Hamburg labs in very engaging and educational ways.
The Heinrich Pette Institute has a passion for educating adults and kids on different scientific subjects and inspiring them to learn more. With the donation of microscopes, they will finally have dedicated equipment for ‘science communication outreach’ that brings scientific topics to the public, e.g. events such as ‘Girls and Boys Day’ and ‘Summer of Science’. Through these programmes, they can get a zoomed-in experience of the wonders of science.
The Bernhard Nocht Institute plans to utilise the microscopes a bit further away from home. Two years ago, they initiated a collaboration with the Public Health Laboratory in Congo Brazzaville with the goal of strengthening local capacity for diagnostics and infectious disease management, including malaria. The current diagnostic process there includes time-consuming staining of blood smears, therefore the new microscopes will be a very useful addition to their efforts. In addition to this, the microscopes will also be made available for training programmes that educate students specialising in diagnostics.
The donated microscopes were manufactured by Sysmex Partec. A part of the global Sysmex Group, they are considered pioneers of modern commercial fluorescence flow cytometry and specialists of instruments ideal for use in the field. They have a long-standing track record of providing robust equipment for essential healthcare in remote areas/low-medium income countries that is reliable, portable and affordable. The donation contains microscopes of a type that has been used successfully in Africa by the German Bundeswehr (military) in 2014 during the Ebola crisis, so we are hopeful that the Hamburg institutes can rely on the microscopes for many years to come.
