NCATS offers a variety of Assay Guidance Manual (AGM) training workshops throughout the year designed to share best practices and advice on robust assay design, development and implementation for researchers involved in the drug discovery process.
Online Training Modules
NCATS offers an online AGM training workshop in addition to the in-person AGM workshops held throughout the year. The online training workshop also features experts sharing best practices and expert advice on assay design, development and implementation. View the video modules.
Upcoming Workshops
2023
March 10
11 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET
2023 AGM Preclinical Translational Science Webinar Series
NCATS’ Assay Guidance Manual (AGM) program will host a quarterly virtual webinar series in conjunction with the center’s Office of Policy, Communications and Education and Office of Drug Development Partnership Programs. This series, featuring prominent speakers in the field, is designed to communicate critical information about preclinical translational science and is particularly relevant for biomedical researchers who are conducting preclinical studies to advance research leading to interventions that will impact human health.
The webinar series will convey best practices in preclinical translational science to help bridge the gap between research discoveries and the delivery of new therapies. Participants will discuss topics relevant to preclinical translational science, including reproducibility, assay development, new and emerging modalities in drug discovery, and entrepreneurship. Participants also will dissect case studies about successful and unsuccessful drug discovery campaigns, with the goal of learning about strategies, methods, and approaches for accelerating drug development. Presenters will provide an overview of the AGM e-book, an important resource for detailed information about robust assay methods and best practices in quantitative biology. They also will disseminate the principles of translational science among scientists in biomedical research and demonstrate how these are applied in preclinical research.
Learn more about past training workshops and read participant testimonials.
2022
Oct. 18–19
Assay Guidance Workshop for High-Throughput Screening and Lead Discovery
On Oct 18–19, NCATS Assay Guidance Manual (AGM) program is hosted a two-day workshop that covered a broad range of critical concepts underlying assay development and implementation for high-throughput screening and lead discovery projects. This workshop was designed to disseminate critical information about the implementation of robust assay methods and was particularly relevant for researchers developing molecular probes or clinical candidates. Many of the instructors have 20 to 30 years of experience in the field of drug discovery and shared information not readily found in a classroom or published material outside of the AGM. The workshop also covered emerging technologies and modalities in drug discovery, including the use of DNA-encoded libraries and 3-D tissue models in drug discovery.
June 7–8
Assay Guidance Workshop on 3-D Tissue Models for Antiviral Drug Development
On June 7–8, 2022, NCATS, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation hosted a jointly organized virtual workshop that covered a broad range of critical concepts, including practical approaches and best practices, for developing standardized 3-D cellular assays with the hope of helping the community to successfully develop therapeutics for future pandemic threats. The overall goal of this workshop was to help scientists establish robust, reproducible, scalable, consistent and advanced 3-D tissue models to study pandemic threat viruses.
Website • Agenda (PDF - 168KB)
Feb. 5
Assay Guidance Workshop for High-Throughput Screening and Lead Discovery (Short Course)
This full-day workshop covered a broad range of critical concepts underlying assay development and implementation for high-throughput screening and lead discovery projects. Many of the methodologies successfully implemented in such projects have established a good deal of “tribal knowledge” within the pharmaceutical industry, which is not readily found in a classroom or the literature. This tribal knowledge, developed over decades, has been transferred into detailed chapters within the Assay Guidance Manual to facilitate reproducible and robust assays that can identify the most promising compounds for the development of molecular probes or clinical candidates.
The workshop provided participants with a broad, practical perspective on assay development so that they can (1) improve research projects involving drug discovery and know where to find further information; (2) identify reagents, methods and instrumentation that are well suited to robust assays; and (3) develop robust assays and the required counter and secondary assays for targets of interest.
2021
Nov. 16–17
Assay Guidance Workshop for Cell-Based Assays and Lead Discovery
NCATS’ Assay Guidance Manual (AGM) program hosted a two-day workshop that covered a broad range of critical concepts underlying high-content screening and analysis and complex in vitro models in drug discovery. This workshop was designed to disseminate critical information about the implementation of robust cellular assay methods and was particularly relevant for researchers developing molecular probes or clinical candidates. Many of the workshop instructors have 20–30 years of experience in the field of drug discovery and they shared information not readily found in a classroom or published material outside of the AGM.
The goal of this workshop was to train scientists on the fundamentals and applications of image-based and 3-D cellular assay technologies and engage in a dialogue with those curious to understand it on a deeper level. This workshop also aimed to discuss challenges and standards for rigor to enable reproducible results and provide a future perspective on the utility of complex cellular models in drug discovery.
Sept. 1–2
Assay Guidance Manual Virtual Workshop on DNA-Encoded Libraries for Lead Discovery
This workshop aimed to provide best practices and discussed standards for rigor in the DNA-Encoded Libraries (DEL) technology field to enable reproducible results. Through the combined learnings from the four sessions, participants had the opportunity to improve the quality of their research projects by utilizing DEL for hit discovery and learned where to find further information. Novice users took home practical learnings that could be immediately applied, and experienced practitioners gained a deeper appreciation for the complexities of DEL that are outside their immediate disciplines of expertise.
2020
Nov. 18-19
Assay Guidance Workshop for High-Throughput Screening and Lead Discovery
This workshop covered a broad range of critical concepts underlying assay development and implementation for high-throughput screening and lead discovery projects. This workshop was designed to disseminate critical information about the implementation of robust assay methods and was particularly relevant for researchers developing molecular probes or clinical candidates.
January 25
Assay Guidance Workshop for High-Throughput Screening and Lead Discovery
This workshop – held during the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) 2020 International Conference & exhibition – provided attendees with core principles and practices to facilitate the design and execution of a diverse range of rigorous and reproducible assays that can identify the most promising compounds for the development of molecular probes or clinical candidates.
2019
September 11-12
This workshop provided attendees with core principles and practices that facilitate the design and execution of a diverse range of rigorous and reproducible assays that can identify the most promising compounds for the development of molecular probes or clinical candidates. View the agenda (PDF - 911KB)
March 10
Held during the Society of Toxicology 58th Annual Meeting & ToxExpo, this workshop featured sessions designed to provide participants with “good research practices” for the rigorous development, optimization, implementation and interpretation of robust in vitro toxicological assays for reproducible results using physiologically relevant models. View the agenda.
February 7-8
This NCATS-sponsored symposium highlighted challenges and opportunities throughout the discovery and development process for addiction- and pain-related medications in the pre-competitive preclinical stage and provided a framework for more focused efforts within the research community. View the agenda (PDF - 624KB).>
February 2
Held during the 2019 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening meeting, this workshop covered critical information about the implementation of robust assay methods, particularly for researchers developing bioassays for the discovery of drugs or chemical probes. View the agenda.
2018
September 10-11
This two-day workshop covered a broad range of critical concepts underlying assay development for high-throughput screening and lead discovery projects, along with hands-on data analysis training. View the agenda.
March 26-27
NCATS supported this two-day workshop that covered a broad range of critical concepts underlying assay development for high-throughput screening and lead discovery projects, along with hands-on data analysis training. View the agenda.
2017
October 23
NCATS supported this full-day workshop that covered a broad range of critical concepts underlying assay development for high-throughput screening and lead discovery projects. View the agenda.
August 7
NCATS supported this full-day workshop that covered a broad range of critical concepts underlying assay development for high-throughput screening and lead discovery projects. More than 40 people participated to learn more about the implementation of robust assay methods and development of bioassays for the discovery of drugs or chemical probes. Learn more. View the agenda.
February 4
More than 30 industry and academic researchers from nine countries and 12 U.S. states participated in the Washington, D.C., workshop, held in conjunction with the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening’s annual international conference. Learn more. View the agenda.
2016
October 27
See testimonials from the Assay Guidance Workshop for High-Throughput Screening and Lead Discovery hosted by NCATS and Promega scientists in Madison, Wisconsin. View the agenda.
April 5–6
Learn about how more than 100 participants attended the Assay Guidance Workshop for High-Throughput Screening and Lead Discovery in College Park, Maryland, hosted by NCATS and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). View the agenda.
January 23
Discover more about the SLAS2016 Assay Guidance Workshop for High-Throughput Screening and Lead Discovery in San Diego, California. View the agenda.
2015
July 17
Read about the Assay Guidance Workshop for High-Throughput Screening and Lead Discovery hosted by NCATS and the FDA in College Park, Maryland. View the agenda.
February 6
Learn more about NCATS’ inaugural Assay Guidance Workshop for High-Throughput Screening and Lead Discovery at its laboratories in Rockville, Maryland. View the agenda.
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