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Image of success as Olga plays key role in the war on cancer
A Yorkshire-based business woman has devised a system that could ensure more breast cancer sufferers survive. Deputy Business Editor Greg Wright reports.
OLGA Kubassova has taken a tortuous route to Leeds, via cities that ought to be geography questions on University Challenge.
She was born in Ust-Kamenogorsk in Kazakhstan – homeland of the mythical Borat – and has a masters degree in computer science from the Finnish university of Lappeenranta.
Kubassova soon discovered that maths qualifications don't necessarily lead to management posts. Many of her contemporaries worked in call centres and shops after spending six years studying maths. Kubassova decided to head to Yorkshire, a place that she had once regarded as a remote spot on the map.
She arrived at Leeds University in 2004, after successfully applying for the Dorothy Hodgkins Postgraduate award, a scholarship that enables outstanding researchers from overseas to study in Britain.
In June 2008, she was crowned Yorkshire's top scientific entrepreneur after co-founding Image Analysis, a company that could speed up the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, a condition that affects two per cent of the population.
The Leeds-based company produces software products for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) equipment. It enables doctors to establish whether a patient is suffering from arthritis, and reduces the chances of human error. Image Analysis could give medics a vital "window of opportunity" to treat arthritis in its early stages.
Ms Kubassova believes the same process might help to improve the survival rates from breast cancer.
Image Analysis was founded in 2007, and with the help of a micro grant from Yorkshire Forward, developed its first product dedicated to the analysis of data from patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Ms Kubassova said: "It has been a hard year with a lot of ups and downs. I'm not sure we would have made it without support from friends and colleagues and advice from Business Link and Yorkshire Forward."
Image Analysis's core product – Dynamika – is being marketed to manufacturers of MRI equipment, the research and development departments of pharmaceutical companies, and general clinical markets.
Ms Kubassova said: "We have had serious interest from several major manufacturers. Several large pharmaceutical companies expressed interest. Recently, Abbott Laboratories bought several licenses of the diagnostic systems and consultancy services.
"We are now working on a long term contract with the company and are looking into further product development and research opportunities. In spring 2009, we will expect to win new contracts with some of the other pharma companies, which now see the potential in our development."
Dynamika is already installed in hospitals in Poland, Britain, Denmark, Austria, and Italy.
"To grow the company and increase its product range, we plan to develop an application for the diagnosis of breast cancer," says Ms Kubassova. "This unique diagnostic system for breast imaging should enable radiologists to achieve high levels of detection at early stages of cancer.
"The system will lead to more precise location of tumours, efficient needle guiding and improved biopsy procedures."
Jim Farmery, the assistant director of Business at Yorkshire Forward, said: "Olga is a perfect example of what we are trying to achieve with some of the packages that are provided for our regional entrepreneurs – to provide the support and catalyst for great ideas to move forward.
"There is a huge pool of talent in our region in the field of healthcare technologies that has the capacity to make a real impact on individual patient care and the regional economy – in the face of challenging economic circumstances, it is vital that we continue to nurture that talent and ensure people like Olga can access the support they need."
In five years' time, Ms Kubassova would like to run a company employing between 10 and 15 people which carries out commercially-focused research.
Ms Kubassova plans to stay in her adopted home of Leeds because of the large student population and its strong links with medical research.
"I would like to collaborate with universities and hospitals worldwide to use science to provide better patient care,'' she said.
Quite an achievement for somebody who, five years ago, seemed destined to spend her career in an obscure Finnish laboratory.
The vital link
Leeds-based Image Analysis was formed in 2007 to bridge the gap between the scientific and medical communities. It was founded by Olga Kubassova, the head of research and development, and Paul Robb, the commercial director.
The company uses its expertise in imaging and advanced computer science to provide services to medical institutions, clinical research organisations, and pharmaceutical companies.
In June 2008, Ms Kubassova received the entrepreneur of the year award at Yorkshire Forward's fifth annual Yorkshire Bioscience Awards, which were held at the Thorpe Park Hotel in Leeds. The company was also shortlisted in the University Spin-out category in the 2008 Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business Awards.
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