Jim Huggett, PhD profile page

Science Fellow at the National Measurement Laboratory (NML) & Designated Institute for chemical & bio-metrology, responsible for leading the bioanalytical agenda and driving UK Biometrology leadership at a global level. Following his PhD at Cardiff University in 2002 Dr Huggett moved to UCL to work with Professor Alimuddin Zumla on infectious disease diagnosis in the developing world. While working with scientists from several African nations he recognised that diagnostic standardisation represented a major barrier to ensuring accuracy and wider uptake. Inspired this challenge, in 2009 he moved to the NML where he now leads a team focusing on routes to deliver high accuracy genetic and genomic measurement. Dr Huggett is a member of the MHRA’s Pathogen Diagnostic Advisory Group and represents the UK (BSI) on ISO diagnostic committees focussed on genetic diagnosis, microbiology and testing responses to pandemics. He also supported the Rosalind Franklin Laboratory in their COVID VOC screening to ensure the PCR tests would detect new variants of concern. He currently sits on the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry’s committee for molecular diagnostics and the BIPM’s consultative committee for chemistry and bioanalysis where he is the current chair of the nucleic acid analysis working group (NAWG). Dr Huggett, who is also a visiting Professor at the University of Surrey, has led several international initiatives to develop improvements in applied molecular testing on topics ranging from cancer genetics to rapid diagnosis of sepsis. As the chair of the NAWG he led the CCQM’s response to COVID-19 which enabled 21 reference laboratories across 16 countries to setup a standardised assays in less than 6 months.