A Message from Hannah McGregor, Head of Culture Collections
As the year draws to a close, I would like to reflect on what was a meaningful and inspirational year for Culture Collections.
This year marked the 25th anniversary of the National Collection of Pathogenic Viruses (NCPV), a milestone that celebrates its evolution into a vital global resource for virologists, researchers, and public health agencies. Since its establishment in 2000 with Wellcome Trust funding, NCPV has played a critical role in supporting major health emergencies including the Zika outbreak and COVID-19 pandemic by providing authenticated virus strains and expanding its catalogue. We commemorated this achievement with a webinar exploring the ongoing challenges of emerging infectious diseases and the essential role trusted biological collections play in global health.
All Collections have been equally busy re-banking, authenticating and providing reference materials. ECACC have accessioned 25 new cell lines to the catalogue, the fungal collection, NCPF, have been collaborating with the banking team in NCTC to ensure freeze-dried stocks of fungal strains remain available, and NCTC have produced over 200 new banks for the bacterial collection. This has resulted in over 100 orders per month being fulfilled by our Customer Service and Cryostore teams.
In June, we were deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and friend, Dr Edward Burnett, Scientific Development Lead for Culture Collections. Ed contributed 25 years to the collections, shaping the advancement of cell authentication and strengthening ECACC’s global reputation as a trusted source. Ed was a generous mentor and an inspiring presence, always ready to share his knowledge and support others. He will be greatly missed by all who had the privilege to work alongside him.
This year, Culture Collections continued to champion staff development, creating opportunities for growth and learning at every level. We’re proud to celebrate four colleagues who successfully completed their apprenticeship programmes, demonstrating their hard work and commitment. Ayuen Lual, Heena Shah and Samantha Cutler achieved distinction in their Level 5 Operational Leadership Apprenticeships and Maisie Mounter also achieved a distinction in Project Management. With four more apprenticeships currently underway, we remain dedicated to investing in our people, ensuring they have the skills and confidence to thrive and shape the future of the collections.
Other highlights included strengthening international partnerships through a visit from our colleagues at KAC in Japan, sharing biobanking best practices with the Ethiopian Public Health Institute, and meeting with depositors at the Federation of European Microbiology Society conference in Milan. These moments reaffirm the global reach and collaborative spirit that define Culture Collections.
As we look ahead to 2026, we remain committed to innovation, collaboration, and excellence. We have some exciting projects that build on the foundations laid by our team past and present, that will enable Culture Collections to continue to support science that makes a difference worldwide.