This two-day virtual workshop hosted by NCATS Assay Guidance Manual (AGM) covered a broad range of critical concepts underlying assay development and implementation for high-throughput screening and lead discovery projects. The videos from the second day of the workshop are below.
Basic Assay Statistics, Data Analysis & Rules of Thumb (ROT)
Thomas “TC” D.Y. Chung, Ph.D.
Director, Translational Outreach Programs
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute
Dr. Chung introduces basic statistical concepts for proper HTS data analysis and validation. Dr. Chung then describes the Z-factor (Z’) as a simple parameter that summarizes an assay’s robustness.
Reproducibility Assessment of In Vitro Screening Results
Viswanath Devanarayan, Ph.D., FAAPS
Senior Statistics Director
GlaxoSmithKline
Dr. Devanarayan introduces minimum significant ratio (MSR) as a metric for evaluating the reproducibility of potency results from dose-response screening assays. He then discusses how MSR is calculated and describes different ways of estimating MSR.
Assay Operations: Keeping your Assays Robust and Reproducible
Jeffrey R. Weidner, Ph.D.
Founder
QualSci Consulting, LLC
Dr. Weidner introduces and defines key statistical concepts for assay robustness and reproducibility. He then introduces the audience to Statistical Process Control (SPC) which applies statistical methods to optimize reproducibility, reliability and quality.
Kinetics of Target Binding: Impact on Drug Activity from Bench to Bedside
Sam Hoare, Ph.D.
Founder
Pharmechanics, LLC
Dr. Hoare introduces basic concepts and principles in binding kinetics and its impact on drug measurements. Dr. Hoare then describes methodologies for measuring binding kinetics and highlights when to apply kinetics in drug discovery.
Why You Want to Use Stem Cells for Drug Discovery
Marcie Glicksman, Ph.D.
Head of Biology
EnClear Therapies
Dr. Glicksman emphasizes the importance of using stem cells in drug discovery campaigns and describes different stem cell technologies utilized in drug discovery. Dr. Glicksman also provides examples and case studies where stem cells were used in the drug discovery process as well as for therapy.
Toward the Efficient Discovery of Actionable Chemical Matter from DNA-encoded Libraries
Timothy L. Foley, Ph.D.
Pharmacology & DEL Selection Biology Lab Head, Primary Pharmacology Group
Pfizer Inc.
Dr. Foley introduces DNA-encoded chemical libraries (DEL) and describes how they are used for lead discovery. Dr. Foley then addresses several topics including reproducibility in DEL screens, hit selection and conformation, as well as some challenges in these processes.
Antibody Binding Sites as Therapeutics: From scFv to VHH and VNAR
Mitchell Ho, Ph.D.
Deputy Chief, Laboratory of Molecular Biology
National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH
Dr. Ho describes different approaches for therapeutic antibody discovery. He then introduces the concept of antibody binding site as therapeutics and takes a deep dive into the utility of single-chain variable fragment (scFv) and single domain antibodies in therapeutics.
COVID19: The NCATS Experience
Matthew D. Hall, Ph.D.
Director, Early Translation Branch, Division of Preclinical Innovation
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
Dr. Hall describes activities conducted by NCATS to address COVID-19 including SARS-CoV-2 assay development and screening, as well as the launch of an open data portal to share COVID-19 drug repurposing data in real time.
Closing Remarks
Anton Simeonov, Ph.D.
Scientific Director, Division of Preclinical Innovation
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
In his closing remarks, Dr. Simeonov describes the AGM as a freely available resource for early discovery and emphasizes that the AGM program is becoming a community of followers, practitioners, and disseminators. Dr. Simeonov highlights the future directions and the upcoming events of the AGM.