ALA Spotlight Series Program—East Coast Sheraton Boston Hotel Boston, MA   •   November 1, 2007 Register Now Online Download Form Hotel Information Contact +1.888.733.1ALA (1252) +1.630.390.2233 fax Terms and Conditions 9:30 am Continental Breakfast 9:45 am ALA Welcome & Course Introduction ALA Board of Director Steven Vidakovic, Ph.D. 10:00 am Seven Habits of Highly Successful Implementers of High Content Screening (HCS) for Drug Discovery ALA Member Sesha Tekur, Ph.D, Field Application Scientist, Thermo Fisher Scientific HCS and HCA are becoming increasingly adopted in drug discovery and academic research. This session reviews the benefits of HCS, the technological basis of HCS, and the practical considerations involved in adopting HCS or HCA. Featuring: HCS vs. HCA and the specific scientific applications that are possible with HCS/HCA Why cell-based assays are important and why imaging is an appropriate approach to this type of discovery The basic principles and approaches of HCS and compelling scientific ROI analysis using HCS 11:00 am RNAi Screening—How to Get Superior Results Through Automation ALA Member David Evans, Ph.D., Sr. Director, RNAi Discovery and Therapeutic Services, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Dharmacon Products RNAi is a very important technology for studying functional genomics. This session provides practical insight into how best to perform routine RNAi screening. Topics such as transfection, cell culture, RNAi library design, automation and assay readouts are covered. Featuring: Implementing an RNAi screen in various cancer cell lines Data review strategies and plans for follow-up of hits 12:00 noon Luncheon Super Session The World Is Flat: Collaborative Science in a Changing Electronic World ALA Member David Dorsett, Sr. VP, Strategy, Software Division, Symyx Technologies, Inc. ALA Member Trish Meek, Director, Product Strategy—Life Science Informatics, Thermo Fisher Scientific An increasing drive toward enterprise-wide R&D informatics is changing the ways in which groups from discovery chemistry and biology to process development and drug formulation work together. Recent approaches are considering this entire space, and integration projects are spanning larger sets of multiple data systems (CDS/LIMS/SDMS/ELN) and wider arrays of laboratory automation implementations. Delve into the use of cross-disciplinary Electronic Laboratory Notebook applications, review systems for integrations between existing data systems across R&D departments and discuss the future for enterprise R&D systems with an architecture that supports the ability to rapidly deploy and manage a highly integrated system. Examine a platform based on open standards and Microsoft. NET technology to integrate these currently disparate, yet tightly linked systems. Attendees will learn how a single technology platform and integration tools, can harmonize and standardize processes across an organization and achieve better collaboration across R&D environment. 2:00 pm Improving Analytics for Pharmaceutical Development—Automation or Predictive Modeling for Solubility Studies—Why Choose? ALA Member ALA Member Stephen Cypes, Ph.D., Group Leader, Chemical Engineering, Symyx Technologies, Inc. The use of automated, parallel experimentation in the areas of solubility, partition coefficients, and formulation screening can rapidly streamline troubleshooting chemical processes and assist in the development of new methods to increase efficiency. Advances have been made in both predictive solubility models and in automated workflows to study solubility profiles. Rather than scientists choosing one approach over the other, these two techniques can be used in a complementary fashion to refine solubility models, use less compounds in a given study, and be more successful with the experiments than a scientist chooses to run. During the presentation, an emphasis will be placed on the actual workflows with less emphasis on predictive modeling. Featuring: Discussion of effective automation techniques for solubility Comparison of various solubility predictions from various models to experimental results Examples of a large pharma company using these approaches in tandem to perform crystallization studies and to efficiently run solubility studies 3:00 pm Slurries and Powders and Goop….Oh, My!—Applying Automation and Integration to Viscous and Solid Formulations ALA Member Grant Gavranovic, Ph.D., Staff Scientist, Symyx Technologies, Inc. Formulation studies are complex because they involve both composition variables as well as process variables. Recent developments in materials handling and processing have allowed automation techniques to be employed in formulation studies. Featuring: Techniques for dispensing and processing a broad variety of components on a small scale Case studies of solid and liquid formulation development in the material science industry 4:00 pm Workshop Adjourns