Advanced Therapeutics Hub at Advanced Therapies Integrates North 2026
Two members of the Engineering Biology for Advanced Therapeutics Hub, Professor Andrew Baker and Dr Alice Barrier, were on the programme at this year's Advanced Therapies Integrates North 2026
Held at the Usher Institute in Edinburgh, the meeting brought together leaders from academia, industry, and the innovation ecosystem to address both the promise and practical challenges of advanced therapies.
Professor Andrew Baker, a Principal Researcher within the Hub, shared updates on Scotland's PROTECT gene therapy trial.
Extending heart bypass success
Andrew Baker, British Heart Foundation Chair of Translational Cardiovascular Science, delivered a keynote on Scotland’s PROTECT gene therapy trial. Andrew is the academic lead for the trial, which is led by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the University of Glasgow in collaboration with NHS Golden Jubilee and the University of Edinburgh.
The treatment aims to improve long-term outcomes in coronary artery bypass surgery by reducing failure of vein grafts, which often deteriorate over time as they are not naturally built to handle high-pressure blood flow.
During surgery, the vein graft is treated directly with a gene therapy delivering TIMP-3, which increases production of a protective protein. This helps regulate tissue repair and is expected to reduce vessel thickening and blockage.
The aim is to extend graft lifespan, reduce complications such as heart attacks and repeat operations, and ultimately improve outcomes for patients with coronary heart disease. Andy also highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary teams in taking therapies from early lab work through to clinical trials.
Dr Alice Barrier contributed to a panel on moving from discovery to scalable delivery.
The power of automation
Alice Barrier, Head of Operations at the Hub, joined the panel “Advancing Tomorrow’s Therapies,” which focused on the challenge of moving from discovery to scalable real-world delivery. The discussion focused on the tension between fast-moving scientific innovation and the need for robust manufacturing, standardisation, and delivery.
Alice highlighted the role of automation and integrated platforms in helping bridge that gap. By automating routine laboratory workflows, researchers can free up time and expertise for more complex scientific problems.
These high-throughput systems also generate high-quality, structured data, laying the groundwork for the emerging concept of the “AI scientist,” where machine learning tools help design, interpret, and accelerate experiments alongside researchers.
In parallel, automation strengthens standardisation and reproducibility across workflows: key requirements for making advanced therapy manufacturing more consistent, scalable, and reliable.
Bringing together advanced therapy expertise
Together, these contributions highlighted the Hub’s role in linking innovation, infrastructure, and application, ensuring breakthrough science can be scaled and delivered to patients. The event underscored both the ongoing challenges of manufacturing, regulation, and commercialisation of advanced therapies, and the incredible progress that has been made in recent years.
The Hub was also pleased to support a number of its researchers in attending the event, providing a valuable opportunity for professional development and fostering connections across the advanced therapies community.
My work explores collaboration at the academia-industry interface, so it was interesting to see these in action. The panels were helpful to get a sense of a range of different understandings of - and perspectives on - scaleability, the challenges, and the more-than-technical dimensions of advanced therapy development.
It was very valuable for me to attend this event: not only to engage with the field, but to continue to develop Hub relationships through shared experiences.
Dr Sophie Stone
Research Fellow (Advanced Therapeutics | Responsible Research and Innovation)
