Laboratory Robotics Interest Group Meeting

[Andy Zaayenga]

The Laboratory Robotics Interest Group
Topical Group of the American Chemical Society 

December 1997 Meeting
High Throughput Screening

Date:
 Wednesday, December 3, 1997 
Place:
 Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
 Building 701, 59 Route 10, East Hanover, NJ 07950
Itinerary:
 Social Period & HTS Vendor Show, Bldg 701 Cafeteria - 5:00-7:00
pm
 Presentations and Panel Discussion, Bldg 701 Auditorium -
7:00-9:15 pm
Pre-Registration:
 For security purposes you must pre-register for this meeting. 
 Indicate names of attendees and company affiliation.
 Email: dennis.france at pharma.novartis.com
 Fax: (201)503-6136

An exciting agenda is planned for this meeting centered around
High
Throughput Screening.  During the Social Period which will
feature 
pizza and refreshments, there will be a HTS Vendor's Show.
Following 
will be two presentations, then a group of panelists with
diverse
experience in automated drug discovery will lead discussions on
a 
wide variety of topics. If you have topics that you would like
to 
discuss in the open forum panel discussion, please send them to
zaayenga at lab-robotics.org and the list will be presented to the 
panel. Members interested in presenting a poster are encouraged
to 
do so. Open career positions at your company may be announced or

posted.  There is no fee to attend the meeting.
----------------------------------

Presentation: Development of an Ultra-High Throughput Screening
System:
Plate Design, Liquid Handling & Image Analysis
Dr. Kevin Oldenburg
Director of Biomedical Screening
Dupont Merck, USA
 Recent advances in plate design, liquid handling, and imaging 
 have made it possible, for the first time, to create truly 
 ultra-high throughput screening systems.  The key engineering 
 challenges which needed to be overcome in order to develop
these
 systems as well as system limitations will be discussed.  Data 
 from model systems will be presented comparing the results 
 obtained from the miniaturized format with those obtained
 from the standard 96-well format.  These results demonstrate 
 that the signal to noise ratio and robustness of an assay can
be
 preserved upon miniaturization.  The flexibility of this system

 should make it amenable for screening of not only
pharmaceuticals 
 but also for agrochemicals and applied materials.

Presentation: Strategic Approaches to Cellular Transcriptional
HTS Assays
Dr. Mel Reichman
Vice President
Drug Discovery
OSI Pharmaceuticals
Uniondale, NY

Poster: Automated Weighing, Labeling and Compound Dissolution
Jane Riley
Bohdan Automation Inc.

Poster: Wellplate Replicators in HTS
Andrew Whitwell
Labman Automation Ltd

HTS Vendors Exhibiting:
-----------------------
Amersham Life Science Inc.
Argonaut Technologies
Beckman / Saigan Instruments Inc.
Biodot / Cartesian Technologies
BMG LabTechnologies Inc.
Bohdan Automation Inc.
EG&G Wallac Inc.
Labman Automation Ltd
LEAP Technologies Inc
LJL BioSystems Inc.
Matrix Technologies Corp.
Millipore
MDL Information Systems
Molecular Devices
Packard Instrument Company
PerSeptive BioSystems
ST Robotics International
Tecan US Inc.
TekCel
TomTec Inc.
Zymark Corporation

   For more information contact:
Chairman:
Dennis France 
dennis.france at pharma.novartis.com
(201)503-6030
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation

Vice Chairman:
Ed Kanczewski 
kanczee at aa.wl.com
(201)540-6479
Warner-Lambert

Secretary:
Andy Zaayenga 
zaayenga at lab-robotics.org
(732)302-1038
Plexus Innovative Technologies

Treasurer:
William Haller 
bhaller at ompus.jnj.com
(908)218-6341
Ortho-McNeil 


Directions to Novartis Pharmaceuticals, East Hanover NJ

 From New York City:
Via George Washington Bridge: Follow Route 80 West to 
intersection of Route 287 in Parsippany. Take Route 287 South 
to Route 10 East (exit 39A). Proceed east on Route 10 to 
Ridgedale Avenue. Turn right onto Ridgedale Avenue and proceed 
0.4 miles to Novartis entrance on left.

 Via Lincoln Tunnel: 
Follow signs to New Jersey Turnpike. Take Turnpike South to exit

15W. Proceed West on Route 280 to Edwards Road exit. At the end 
of the exit turn left. This is Edwards Road which turns into 
Ridgedale Avenue. Follow Ridgedale Avenue across Route 10 to 
Novartis entrance.

 From 287 North:
Take Route 287 North to Route 10 East (exit 39) and follow to 
Ridgedale Avenue. Turn right onto Ridgedale Avenue and proceed 
0.4 miles to Novartis entrance on left.

 From Newark Airport:
Take Route 78 West to exit for Route 24 West. Proceed on Route
24 
to Ridgedale Avenue in Madison, turn right, and follow for
several 
miles to Novartis entrance.

 From the West:
Take Route 80 East to Route 287 in Parsippany. Take Route 287
South 
to Route 10 East (exit 39A) and follow to Ridgedale Avenue. Turn

right onto Ridgedale Avenue and proceed 0.4 miles to Novartis 
entrance on left.

 From the South:
Take the New Jersey Turnpike to the Garden State Parkway North.
Leave the Parkway at exit 145, follow signs to Route 280 West 
and proceed as outlined above.

----------------------------------
TECAN U.S. is pleased to sponsor this mailing and meeting of the

Laboratory Robotics Interest Group. TECAN is committed to the 
on-going development and delivery of flexible laboratory
automation
products including liquid handling, separation, and detection 
instruments. Visit our new U.S. website at
http://www.tecan-us.com
(11/17/97), or visit our corporate site at http://www.tecan.com.
----------------------------------

Visit the Laboratory Robotics Interest Group homepage at 
http://lab-robotics.org