Category: Project Manager

Important information updates concerning the project.

New Project Manager for Achiever

Just an update for those who are unaware, Peter Holmes retired from the University on 5 April and we wish him a very happy and healthy retirement.

I would like to introduce myself, I am Gillian Brown and I have replaced Peter as Project Manager for the rollout of the Achiever project.

Gillian BRownFor information, I already have a 15 year history within the University (IT Service and the Medical School). I joined Netskills (1998) and managed the IT Training Suite that was situated in the Herschel Building. I then managed the Universities’ Mailbase lists while working as Administrator for the NorMAN project (which connects the North East Universities and Colleges to the internet). In 2006 I moved to the School of Medical Sciences Education Development (SMSED) where I worked on behalf of the University and the Higher Education Academy (HEA) in the subject centre for Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine. I stayed there until 2013 – so if you see me or recognise my name, this will be why! For the last 3 years I have been working directly for the HEA advising clinical educators and researchers about evidencing good practice and applying for HEA Fellowship.

I have been at the University for 2 weeks and am trying to establish (in my own mind) exactly where we are. I have met some really lovely people (so thank you all for making me feel so welcome!) and I hope to be ‘up to speed’ very soon.

We have our very first Achiever Working Group meeting this week – it takes place on Wednesday 26 April from 10-11am in the Dental School (DENT.7.002) for anyone who wishes to attend. I shall update you on progress once this meeting is over.

Along with the Achiever Team I shall be using the blog to keep you all up to date on the latest developments and project progress. Should you have anything to share with the Achiever Community then please contact me if you would like to ‘guest post’ on the Achiever blog.

In the meantime, I hope to meet you all on my visits and should you wish to contact me my email address is Gillian.Brown1@ncl.ac.uk.

Achiever Sample Management System – Introduction

Achiever is the Tracking System for the Management of Tissue Samples under the Human Tissue Act (HTA) 2004. It is a web based software application often referred to as the Sample Management System. It has been selected by Newcastle University to be rolled out across the Newcastle Biobanks as part of HTA compliance.

This blog will contain regular updates from the team as the system is rolled out.

The Achiever system is provided by the software company Interactive Software Limited (ISL), based in Birmingham, UK.

The scope of Phase 1 included the initial take on of all existing NICR collections that were transferred from the previous Central Tissue Resource (CTR) database into Achiever, including clinical trials, REC approved projects and Research tissue banks via an upload system provided by ISL.

ISL also provided the core Achiever system the logging of new samples and management of all samples, provided end user training and ongoing support for the application. All tissues were stored for NICR on Achiever.

Various “Sites”, “Hubs” or “Biobanks” within or associated with NU are authorised under NU’s HTA licence (12534) to store Human Tissue for research purposes.  NICR is one such Site. There are approximately 8 further Sites in scope for Achiever Phase 2. Each Site has a Person Designate (PD) who has authority under the Designated Individual (DI) and NU licence to manage tissue samples.  Overall authority at NU is held by the DI.

Achiever is intended to track the introduction of tissue samples into the relevant Area, including donor, unique reference, storage location, the creation and management of collections, the creation and management of derivatives, as well as loans both internally within NU and externally. Achiever can be configured in terms of screen formats, for example, and it can be administered by selected authorised NU staff.

For Phase 2 all tissues relating to the Biobanks will be stored on Achiever. Out of scope for Achiever will be tissues and clinical trials relating to non-Biobank institutions.

Longer term the aim is to extend beyond the HTA to track all relevant material stored on University premises, which includes material not currently stored under the HTA, which is part of an ongoing REC approved project.

Achiever is HTA compliant in that each sample has a prominent HTA relevant flag. REC approval is supported and all samples’ locations can be tracked on the system as being in a local storage facility or on loan to an approved external borrower. Achiever will provide audit reports as well as management and exception reports to identify and resolve any discrepancies in sample data.