Southern Research Institute Uses UNIFlow™ to Help Meet Demands for H1N1 Flu Virus Studies

With non-stop media coverage fueling panic about the threat of an H1N1 pandemic, the need for better understanding as well as effective and accessible prevention has become a global rallying cry. And with sobering predictions about the impact the virus could have on the most vulnerable populations, the need for quick action has been critical.

With the focus on developing and validating the safety and effectiveness of potential vaccines, UNIConnect client Southern Research Institute was called on to assist in this widespread effort.  Its Influenza Program has long been involved in the testing required to produce effective vaccines, and works on both seasonal and pandemic strains.

Faced with the task of testing literally thousands of blood samples from people who have been injected with trial vaccines, Southern Research was able to rapidly detect the antibody titer, which indicates the efficacy of the vaccine.

Contract research organizations, including Southern Research, have to be able to quickly ramp up to meet urgent needs. UNIConnect and the UNIFlow system were instrumental in helping Southern Research meet the demands of testing a large number of H1N1 samples.  Dr. Marintha Heil, Associate Project Leader at Southern Research and a UNIFlow process developer, configured a data management tool using UNIFlow at the request of the Influenza program management.  “The UNIFlow system was easily and rapidly configured to meet the end users needs.  The final process was put into production in about 10-15 hours, and it was accepted by the end-user immediately.  The System has been operating without the need of UNIFlow process engineers or developers’ input” says Dr. Heil.

The unique UNIFLOW information tracking system is designed to help solve one of the main bottlenecks– the reduction of paperwork, which is both time-consuming and prone to human error.  With the fully automated UNIFlow system, the potential for errors is drastically reduced.  And, because the system was developed by laboratory professionals using their own language and following their own thought processes, the UNIFlow system requires less time than other systems to be in full production mode. Southern Research’s laboratory personnel already had spent time designing the required processes before the rapid H1N1 ramp-up was required.  When Southern Research recognized the requirement for a rapid ramp-up, UNIFlow team members jumped in to get an important piece of the overall system up and running in less than a week. The system has been in use regularly since it first went live, with no down time for programming bugs or problems.

Additionally, because UNIFlow is designed to be intuitive, Southern Research was able to train its laboratory professionals for immediate use of the system.  Since that time, all of the technicians have been added as users and are successfully processing samples without a single hiccup.  This quick adoption and implementation helped them save valuable time and personnel resources.

Southern Research’s Influenza Program is well established and is always working on various strains – thus it is critically important to be able to respond immediately to the new and sometimes creative ways to accurately manage data.  As a contract research organization, Southern Research labs have used UNIFlow™ from UNIConnect for many years primarily because the system makes it possible for the company to respond to immediate needs and to ramp up at a moment’s notice.