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TUESDAY, MAY 13

7:30am Continental Breakfast Breakout Discussions
Topic: Label Free Tools in Drug Discovery: Where is their place in drug discovery?
Moderator: Lisa K. Minor, Ph.D., Principal Scientist, Drug Discovery Research, Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical R&D
Topic: Cells as Reagents
Moderator: Alison Rush, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate, Department of Automated Biotechnology, Merck Research Laboratories
Topic: Cell Culture
Moderator: Richard Del Mastro, Ph.D., Director, R&D, GIBCO Research Area Manager Cell Culture Systems, Invitrogen Corp.

8:30  Chairperson’s Remarks

8:40  Applications of Automation in Cell Supply for Screening–Advantages and Limitations
Alison Rush, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate, Department of Automated Biotechnology, Merck Research Laboratories
As cell-based assays become increasingly prevalent in screening strategies, ensuring consistent supply of high quality cells for assay presents a significant challenge. Automated cell culture is now a fully integrated component of cell supply management and strategy. In this presentation, I will describe the advantages realized by automation and applications of automation within the drug discovery process.  Current technology gaps will also be discussed in the context of designing an optimal workflow fully leveraging the advantages of automation.

9:10 Challenges in Automated Workflow in Drug Discovery Beyond HTS - Impact of Acoustic Drop Ejection Technology and Flexible Automated Workcell Architecture
Eric Tang, PhD., Science Leader, Cancer Bioscience Capabilities Department, AstraZeneca

9:40  Cryo-Preserved PBMC as Standardized Reagents for High-Throughput Clinical Testing
Thomas Kleen, Ph.D., Director, Business Technology Development, Immunology/Biology Division, Cellular Technology Ltd.
Human blood, and in particular its peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) are the most accessible and representative organ for measuring vaccination success, modulation of immune responses, pathological processes and adverse reactions to drugs and other biologics. The lack of predictability of potential reactions to drugs and other biologics is largely based on the fact that animal models as well as cell lines do not accurately represent the vast variation of potential individual responses based on different genetic backgrounds within the human population. The use of PBMC as reagents offers an easy solution to more accurately represent the great variation HLA types and other genetic variation that is the basis of the distinct variation in function in of human responses on a population The best correlate of viability and function of PBMC is the quantization of cytokine production. As these types of assays enter the clinical arena, there is need for standardization.

10:10 Networking Coffee Break in the Exhibit Hall 

10:50 A Multifaceted Approach to Identify Specific CFTR Inhibitors
David Cronk, CBiol MIBiol, Director, Biology, BioFocus DPI
The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) plays a key role in the regulation of water balance in the intestinal tract and is an important target for cholera-induced diarrheal disease therapies.  Here we present work performed in collaboration with the Institute for One World Health to establish a high-throughput screen for this target using endogenously expressed CFTR and a heterologous expression system.

11:20 Integration of Multi-Parametric Cell-Based Assays for High-throughput Compound Profiling and Target Discovery
Francesca Santini, Ph.D., Research Fellow, Automated Biotechnology, Merck Research Laboratories

11:50 Targeting and Manipulating Signaling Pathways in Cell-Based antitative High-Throughput Screens Using B-lactamase Reporter Technology and a Laser-Scanning Fluorescence Microplate Cytometer
Natasha Thorne, Ph.D., NIH Chemical Genomics Center, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health
The commonly used high-throughput technology for B-lactamase reporter gene assays relies on population-plate readers (such as PerkinElmer’s EnVision), in which aggregate fluorescence from thousands of cells is used to quantitate response to a small molecule. While providing robust output, this type of reader may lack sensitivity, particularly when only a fraction of the cells respond to stimulus, which can potentially result in false negatives. An alternative technology is the Acumen laser-scanning fluorescence microplate  cytometer (TTP LabTech Ltd), which provides information on individual cells - ideal for reporter assays in which cells may have varying responses to transcriptional stimulation or inhibition.

12:20pm Close of Cell-Based Assays for HTS Conference

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