Biography

Sarine Markossian is the lead of the Assay Guidance Manual (AGM) Translational Science Resources Program in the Early Translation Branch of NCATS’ Division of Preclinical Innovation. This program is a unique translational science initiative that aims to create and disseminate best laboratory practices, tools for data analysis, and standards for rigor in preclinical drug discovery. In this role, Markossian serves as the editor-in-chief of the AGM eBook — a free, best-practices online resource devoted to the successful development of robust, early-stage drug discovery assays — and manages the program’s training workshops. Markossian also manages research projects focused on eliminating bottlenecks in preclinical translational science by improving assay robustness and reproducibility, addressing assay artifacts and interferences, and establishing best practices for preclinical research. She also serves as an editorial board member of SLAS Discovery.

Prior to joining NCATS in 2020, Markossian was a senior scientist in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the laboratory of Michelle R. Arkin, Ph.D., where she developed cell-based assays for small molecule screening and lead validation across different projects and collaborated on multiple early-stage drug discovery projects across UCSF. She also co-led the Drug-Induced Liver Injury (DILI) team, as part of the Accelerating Therapeutics for Opportunities in Medicine consortium, which developed and profiled compounds across multiple assays, including multiparametric high-content assays, to measure and predict hepatocyte cell health and to build in silico models to predict DILI.

Markossian earned her Ph.D. in molecular genetics from The Ohio State University and completed her postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in the laboratory of Mary C. Dasso, Ph.D., where she streamlined the development and validation of quantitative assays for chromosome instability in human cells.

Research Topics

Markossian’s current research interests focus on establishing guidelines and best practices in preclinical research, including the successful development of robust, early-stage drug discovery assays. Her primary interest is in addressing emerging challenges in assay reproducibility and robustness, with the goal of accelerating the development of therapies for patients. Her research is centered around the principles of the AGM program, and she hopes to help identify and raise awareness around common pitfalls in the process of preclinical research and establish best practices to avoid such pitfalls. Her research projects revolve around leveraging existing data sets to derive insight and supporting laboratory-based research — such as screens — to profile libraries, assays and cells.