i-Path, the Belfast-based virtual microscopy company, has reached out to the pathologists of tomorrow by running a competition for students taking A- or AS-level biology. The Schools Pathology Challenge 2009, in conjunction with National Pathology Week and in support of the Prince’s Trust, aims to raise awareness of pathology among 17–18 year olds who are considering careers in life sciences.  Twenty-seven schools from across the province entered a total of 67 teams, each comprising four students.

In the week commencing 20 November, the teams logged into PathXL OLT, i-Path’s online testing platform, to take the test set by Dr Stephen McCullough, from the Centre of Biomedical Sciences Education at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB).  The top six teams competed in the grand final, held at QUB on 16 December 2009. The schools were: Thornhill College, Londonderry, Lurgan College, Royal School Armagh, Dominican College Fortwilliam, Dalriada School, Ballymoney and Our Lady and St Patrick’s College, Knock.  Royal School Armagh defeated stiff competition from the other schools to win the challenge.  

After the competition, the pupils had an opportunity to view the Medical School and meet staff and students.  Stuart Harvey, CEO of i-Path, explains: “This competition is a fun and interactive way for us, as a digital pathology company, to reach and educate young students through e-learning. Should these students progress in the biomedical field, they will more than likely use this technology as part of their undergraduate or postgraduate course, so taking part in this competition will give them a great start as they will be familiar with the technology before they even begin their university career.” i-Path planned the competition as part of a fundraising challenge for The Prince’s Trust, attempting to turn £1,500 into £10,000 profit as part of the ‘Million Makers’ business competition.  

The money raised will be channelled into helping around 3000 young people aged 14–30 in Northern Ireland to develop the key skills to enable them to move into work, education or training.  i-Path successfully raised money through sponsorship from local businesses and were regional winners in the ‘Million Makers’ challenge.

 Jill Higgins

Business Development Manager

i-Path Diagnostics Ltd

In a revolutionary development, i-Path’s whole-slide digital scanning technology replaces conventional microscopy, alloweing enormous medical images to be stored and viewed online simultaneously anywhere in the world.

The company, which was spun out of Queen’s University Belfast in 2005 under the leadership of Professor Peter Hamilton, has also developed a growing portfolio of owned content which enables it to offer a range of tailored solutions in the fields of academia and professional cometency training.

Hal Wilson, Investment Manager of Crescent Capital said: “We are delighted to be backing i-Path on the next stage of its development alongside existing investors QUBIS Ltd and the University Challenge Fund.

“The migration of pathology into the digital world is a stronger driver to the increasing uptake of i-Path’s leading solutions and we believe that with the introduction of commerically proven leadership into the buisiness that the future is promising.”

Participating in the funding round and assuming the role of i-Path’s chief executive is Stuart Harvey, who co-founded Harco Technology in 1997 and led the company’s growth in London and Belfast.

By 2007, when it was acquired by US-based Wombat Financial Software, Harco had attracted 40 major investment banks as clients with installations in over 80 trading floors worldwide. The following year, both were sold to the New York Stock Exchange in Ireland’s largest financial services acquisition.

Commenting on i-Path Diagnostic, Stuart said: “This is a unique company possessing a talented team, a leading product and loyal customers, some of whom are the most influential in their sectors. I’mthrilled to have the opportunity to help the company build on the progress achieved to date.”

Crescent Capital, which is interested in investing between £250,000 and 2.25m in a range of sectors and stages, is NI’s largest venture capital firm with £36.5m under management.

The fund has a strong history, built over 14 years in the market, of investing in and supporting some of the region’s leading technology businesses, including Andor Technology, APT,Lagan Technologies and NiSoft.