Speaker Highlights for Lab Automation 2018

Lab Automation 2018 is coming to you May 30^th and 31^st! Join LabRoots for the free virtual conference where professionals can learn about the most recent technologies for today’s labs. Laboratory automation is a multi-disciplinary approach benefiting from technologies in the lab that facilitate new and improved processes. Laboratory technologies assist in fueling scientific advancements. Improvements in these systems can significantly increase the efficiency and effectiveness of research across academia, industry and in the clinic. This year’s event will include discussions around High Throughput Screening, Robotics, Emerging Trends, and Organs on a Chip. Two Keynote presentations lead the conference: Robin Felder, PhD, Professor and Associate Director of Clinical Chemistry and Toxicology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine will give his Keynote Presentation on “Robotic Automation of Human Cell Culture for Regenerative and Reparative Medicine” on May 30^th. Dr. Felder’s talk is eligible for Continuing Education: Florida CE and P.A.C.E. CE. Growing living human cells in vitro for basic research, drug discovery and reparative/regenerative medicine is challenged by the difficulty in developing reproducible and cost-effective methods for growing human cells in a way that closely represents the in vivo cellular environment.  3D cell culture is advantageous, replacing 2D cell culture, by more reliably expressing in vivo phenotypes and physiology. Advances in automation and robotics provide parallel and/or random-access processing of many cell lines simultaneously so they can better represent human physiology and meet FDA “good laboratory practice” (GLP) and “good manufacturing practice” (GMP) standards for cultured cells. Automation and robotics will be developed in conjunction with new cell culture methods including the use of 3D technologies incorporating biomimetic substrates, xeno-free cell culture media, shear forces, and oxygen concentrations that more closely mimic the in vivo environment. Dr. Felder’s fully automated next generation 3D cell culture system will virtually eliminate cell misidentification, contamination and infection, while optimizing cell growth and phenotype in order to provide many industries with the highest quality products. Dr. Robin Felder has published over 300 papers, reviews, and chapters, and co-edited 3 textbooks on medical automation. He has been awarded 27 patents and has founded 9 biotech companies, including 2 non-profit organizations (The Association for Laboratory Automation (SLAS) and its journal JALA and Medical Automation.org). He has received numerous awards including the Engelberger Robotics Award, UVA's Innovator of the Year Award, and the Annual Research Awards from the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), and National Academy for Clinical Biochemistry (NACB). Dr. Sam Michael, Director, Automation and Compound Management at NCATS at the NIH, will give his Keynote Presentation on “NCATS Automation Capabilities - Where We Are and Where We Are Going” on May 31^st. Dr. Michael’s talk is eligible for Continuing Education: Florida CE and P.A.C.E. CE. Over the years high throughput screening has evolved from monolithic static systems to modular more dynamic platforms.  NCATS takes an approach to optimize existing legacy platforms, making them more dynamic, while at the same time pursuing advances in system performance, laboratory sustainability, plate transportation and modular components. Dr. Sam Michael, a scientist within NCATS Division of Pre-Clinical Innovation, was recently named NIH's Federal Engineer of the Year. The award, sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers, was in recognition of his leadership of the establishment of a world-class chemical compound screening facility at NIH. As director of automation and compound management at NCATS, Michael and his team create, operate and maintain a suite of automated high-throughput robotic screening systems. These systems enable the development of hundreds of chemical probes that investigators worldwide use to validate new drug targets and chemical leads for development of new drugs for dozens of currently untreatable diseases. Lab Automation 2018 Speakers also include: Ellen Berg, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Translational Biology, Eurofins DiscoverX Mark Bunger, VP of Research and Client Development, Lux Research Sarah Burroughs, PhD, Product Manager, Agilent Technologies Alejandro Chavez, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pathology & Cell Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center Nathan Coussens, PhD, Senior Research Scientist, Biology, Division of Pre-Clinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health Kenda Evans, PhD, Product Specialist, Agilent Technologies Olivier Frey, PhD, Head of Department, InSphero AG Lotta Katriina Raty, Global Product Manager Cell Separation, Miltenyi Biotec Burkhard Schaefer, President at BSSN Software Sabeth Verpoorte, PhD, Professor, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen Mark Wigglesworth, Director High Throughput Screening, AstraZeneca   Use #LRlabauto to follow the conversation!