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Xeroshield hosted a visit by Ashley Archibald of ACG Business Partners of Ribeiro Preto, Brazil from 8-16 January 2012. The visit was arranged by Jayne Brookman of KTN Biosciences who also visited the Roslin Biocentre on 12-13 January. During his stay, we discussed possible commercial partnerships with Brazilian companies, some of whom we will meet on a return visit to Brazil in a few weeks. Discussions focused on our dengue control technology, but there is also scope for partnerships to develop a novel treatment for ectoparasites of cattle. During the week Ashley met with representatives of several other companies in the RBC and gave a presentation on investment, licensing and collaboration opportunities in Brazil. Despite his name, Ashley had not visited the UK before and the trip also allowed him to discover a lot about his Scottish heritage.

Katie Macdonald

Katie Macdonald, a recent graduate in ecological sciences from St. Andrews University, will join Xeroshield in January 2012, thanks to the award of grant funding to the company from the Technology Strategy Board's Grant for Research and Development scheme.

Katie's role will be to amass information on knowledge and awareness of Lyme disease and ticks, gathering background facts and figures about this important public health problem in Scotland, the UK and elsewhere. She will also liaise with groups of 'at risk' individuals such as foresters, gamekeepers, sheep farmers, hillwalkers, campers and mountain bikers, carrying out surveys and hosting focus group discussions. Results will be used to ascertain demand for our novel tick removal and analysis service, now under development.

Cristina with PECET director, Dr. Ivan Dario Velez (on the right) and entomologist Leonardo Rocha

In June Cristina Ayala visited Medellin, Colombia to carry out fieldwork for her dissertation research on community participation in dengue control, towards here M.Sc. Degree in International Health at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.

The work involved carrying out a questionnaire survey, interviews and focus group discussions with residents of poor neighbourhoods affected by dengue on the mountainous slopes of this, the second city of Colombia. The collaboration of members of the PECET tropical research institute, University of Antioquia and public health authorities from the city of Medellin was invaluable. PECET is one of the leading research institutes in Colombia with an international reputation and scientific collaborations worldwide.

Cristina in one of the focus group meetings

Comunidad Paris (Bello) one of the neighbourhoods visited, taken from the cable cars that transport residents to the highest point.

As well as providing Cristina with material for her dissertation, the study will be invaluable to Xeroshield in development of its WaterWasp™ technology, to be provided to neighbourhoods such as Barrio Oriental.

Agri-Technology Innovation, Industry and Investment Workshop in Thailand

Bruce Alexander visited Bangkok, Thailand from March 7-11 2011 to attend the Agri-Technology Innovation, Industry and Investment Workshop. Hosted by the International Agri-Technology Centre and UK Trade & Investment., the purpose of the event was to introduce UK to the Thai market, one of the world's leading agricultural suppliers. The programme included a plenary session on Future Investment in Innovation and a partnering event, with presentations by Xeroshield and other SMEs and 1:1 meetings with Thai businesses.

Xeroshield currently has a number of projects relevant to the region, both in the fields of Agriculture and Public Health, The photograph shows a presentation being made to Bruce as a speaker by Dr Kanyawim Kiritan, Director of BIOTEC and Dr David Dent, CEO of Dent Associates Ltd., who chaired the event on behalf of UKTI.