Diamond Concise Annual Review 2019/20

D I A M O N D L I G H T S O U R C E A N N U A L R E V I E W 2 0 1 9 / 2 0 D I A M O N D L I G H T S O U R C E A N N U A L R E V I E W 2 0 1 9 / 2 0 30 31 Industrial Liaison T he industrial user programme continues to flourish and over the past year we have seen record growth that has led to expansion of both the teamand the services available for our clients. Over 150 clients worldwide aremaking regular use of Diamond’s facilities and the Industrial Liaison Office (ILO) has supported over 600 different experimental sessions over the past year. Our industrial users have diversified their use of the facilities available at Diamond.The majority of our clients continue to represent the life science sector, in particular structural biology, and as research and development in this area is driven by increasingly complex and challenging targets, a multi-technique approach is proving vital. Our clients can now access both world leading technology and talent across macromolecular crystallography, fragment-based drug discovery, small- angle X-ray scattering and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) techniques. Perhaps our most significant collaboration of 2018 was entering into partnershipwithThermoFisherScientifictoprovidetwonewdedicatedmicroscopes at Diamond for industrial use. This partnership has confirmed the position of the electron Bio-Imaging Centre (eBIC) as one of the largest and most advanced cryo-EM facilities in the world, as part of a hub of complementary advanced synchrotron-based methods to advance our understanding and treatment of viruses and diseases. A key aspect of the partnership is the joint provision of the key expertise needed to exploit these resources fully and offer professional cryo-EM services in sample preparation, cryo-EM screening and high-end data collection, designed exclusively for the pharmaceutical industry. Fragment-based lead discovery is a drug discovery process that has revolutionised the pharmaceutical industry, providing valuable and cost- effective insights for rational drug design in the early stages. The XChem facility for X-ray structure-accelerated, synthesis-aligned fragment medicinal chemistry, established at Diamond in partnership with the Structural Genomics Consortium, provides a streamlined, secure and effective route to fragment screening. Over the past few years, both academic and industrial user demand has soared, driving the need for expansion and growth. We are delighted to report that over the last year the dedicated XChem for Industry facility has been commissioned and is fully operational. The ILO has been collaborating with colleagues across the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) in a major funding programme supporting UK companies overcoming product, manufacturing or process performance issues to accelerate productivity. Two companies have recently been awarded funding to work with Diamond under the Bridging for Innovators (B4I) scheme to characterise battery materials and novel vaccines, respectively. Continuing the theme of collaboration, we have also supported Newton Fund partnerships with Indonesia and Thailand. The Newton Fund’s aim is to develop science and innovation partnerships that promote the economic development and welfare of collaborating countries. This work has included delivery of an intensive industrial engagement workshop at the Synchrotron Light Research Institute, Thailand and hosting an Indonesian visiting scientist within the team for a year. For further information about any of our work with industry, please contact [email protected] Thai researchers performing an experiment on I22 under the Newton Fund scheme. Industrial spectroscopy experiments in action.