Released on: April 8, 2008, 8:28 am

Press Release Author: GTCbio

Industry: Biotech

Press Release Summary: Dr. Christopher P. Austin, Director of the NIH Chemical
Genomics Center will give the Keynote Presentation at GTCbio's 3rd Assay Development
& Screening Technologies Conference, June 5-6, 2008 in San Francisco, CA. Dr. Austin
will present on "Novel Paradigms to Enable Druggability of Genomic and Orphan
Disease Targets."


Press Release Body: Dr. Christopher P. Austin, Director of the NIH Chemical Genomics
Center will give the Keynote Presentation at GTCbio's 3rd Assay Development &
Screening Technologies Conference, June 5-6, 2008 in San Francisco, CA. Dr. Austin
will present on "Novel Paradigms to Enable Druggability of Genomic and Orphan
Disease Targets."

The sequencing of the human genome provided both enormous opportunities for
biomedical research, and daunting scientific, organizational, and funding challenges
for both public and private sector research. The broad realization that small
molecule compounds can be uniquely physiological probes of gene/protein function,
and the need for focus on targets and diseases that are outside the traditional
purview of the biopharma, has led to the development of robust chemical genomics
capabilities in the public sector. The goals of these efforts - to develop chemical
probes of novel gene and pathway functions, and starting points for the development
of new therapeutics for rare and orphan human diseases - requires work almost
entirely outside the currently "drugged" genome. At the NIH Chemical Genomics
Center, the challenges of unprecedented targets and diseases have necessitated the
development of novel paradigms for assay development, screening, cheminformatics,
chemical optimization, data sharing, and collaborative project management. Several
of these, including quantitative high-throughput screening, a robust chemical
genomics browser, and policies to balance public release of compound activity data
with downstream developability, will be discussed in this presentation. This
expansion of small molecule science promises to catalyze both understanding of the
genome, and drug development for unprecedented targets, thus advancing realization
of the promise of the Human Genome Project for science and medicine.

GTCbio\'s 3rd Assay Development and Screening Technologies conference will provide
attendees with critical information to utilize in the discovery and development of
assays, while keeping them informed about the latest screening technologies for both
high-throughput screening and high-content screening. Topics being covered include
cell based assays, high throughput screening, high content screening, in vitro
assays and screening, novel assay and screening technologies, and target validation.
For more information visit www.gtcbio.com.
ABOUT GTCbio
GTCbio organizes conferences specifically for the biomedical and biopharmaceutical
industries. Our goal is to facilitate the exchange of biopharmaceutical and
biomedical intelligence between industry leaders, academic and government
organizations, and the financial community.
GTCbio is a subsidiary of Global Technology Community, LLC, a privately held company
founded in 2002.
Contact: GTCBIO (626) 256-6405, (626) 256-6460 fax, nina.tran@gtcbio.com


Web Site: http://www.gtcbio.com

Contact Details: 434 W. Foothill Blvd
Monrovia, CA 91016
Contact: GTCBIO (626) 256-6405, (626) 256-6460 fax, nina.tran@gtcbio.com