November 14, 2013
11:00 am to 12:00 pm EDT

Sponsored by

Symposium Course Description:

SomaLogic’s SOMAscan proteomic assay is a powerful new proteomics tool for researchers across many biomedical disciplines. Among its applications are cell and pre-clinical model studies, and it has proven extremely valuable in uncovering new drug targets, elucidating MOA, target validation and identifying off-target effects. SOMAscan utilizes 1,129 of our proprietary protein-binding reagents, and measures proteins simultaneously across 8 logs of concentration using only 65 µL of biological sample. SomaLogic has already developed strong collaborations with scientists performing these kinds of research. In this webinar, two of our external collaborators will discuss the findings they have made from incorporating SOMAscan into their research.

Learning Objectives:

• Pre-Clinical Applications of SOMAscan
• Biomarkers Role in Drug Discovery
• Target Validation
• Cell Biology
• Animal Models

Who Should Attend:

Researchers and Scientists in

• Biomarker Discovery
• Proteomics
• Translational Medicine
• Pre-Clinical Trials
• Cell Biology
• Pharmacology

Program Agenda:

- Introductions – Nick Saccomano

- A Discussion on GDF-11 (Animal model) - Richard Lee (20 mins)

- Cell Line Studies – John Swindle (20 mins)

- Closing Remarks/Q&A - All

Moderator:

Nick Saccomano, PhD; Chief Technology Officer, SomaLogic

Nick Saccomano joined SomaLogic in 2009 as Chief Technology Officer, a role that includes overseeing the development and applications of the SOMAscan™ proteomic assay. Nick obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry from Columbia University in 1984 under the direction of Professor Gilbert Stork. In 1984, he joined Pfizer Inc. as a research scientist in the CNS discovery group. Between 1985 and 1998, he held several positions in this group, including head of medicinal chemistry. During this time, Nick worked on or led many programs targeting psychiatric and neurological indications including depression, anxiety, psychosis, sleep, stroke, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. In 1998, he was promoted to vice president of discovery technology. In this role, Nick managed and developed a diverse set of enabling technologies used broadly across the drug discovery pipeline. In 2004, Nick was promoted to senior vice president of global research technology and strategic alliances. In 2008, he moved to Bend Research Inc. as chief scientific officer, and he remains a member of the Board of Directors of this organization.

Speaker #1 Information:

Richard Lee, MD. Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School; Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University

Richard T. Lee is Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Lee is a graduate of Harvard College in Biochemical Sciences and received his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College. Dr. Lee completed both his residency and cardiology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He is Leader of the Cardiovascular Program of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of the journals Circulation Research and Circulation. Dr. Lee is Director of the Regenerative Medicine Center of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where his own laboratory studies heart regeneration, diabetes and aging.

Dr. Lee has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles based on his research, which combines approaches in biotechnology and molecular biology. In addition, Dr. Lee is an active clinician; he regularly treats both inpatients and outpatients as a clinical cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and volunteers his time for general medical care to the homeless at a Boston-area shelter.

Speaker #2 Information:

John Swindle, Ph.D. President and CEO of CompleGen

Dr. Swindle is the co-founder, President and CEO of CompleGen, Inc. in Seattle WA. Prior to founding CompleGen, Dr. Swindle was a member of the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) and on the faculties of the Department of Pathobiology of the University of Washington and the Department of Microbiology of the University of Tennessee.

One of the challenges of small molecule drug discovery is identifying molecules with sufficient target selectivity. Traditional discovery technologies rarely identify selective drug candidates because the technologies used necessarily focus on the catalytic or active site of the target protein, structures that are frequently conserved within a protein family or across a whole target class. At CompleGen, we use a simple genetic based discovery system that does not depend on a deep understanding of biologic networks but nonetheless, can efficiently identify target selective small molecule inhibitors that differentiate targets even within highly conserved protein families. In most cases, these compounds target non-conserved regions of the protein and inhibit allosteric regulation rather than catalytic activity, hence the exquisite specificity. When coupled with relevant biomarkers our selective antagonist can be used to define protein signatures that correlate with drug activity.