Abstract
The sixteenth International Sympoiosium on Laboratory Automation & Robotics featured more than 150 podium and poster presentations, ten topical discussion groups and workshops as well as six free short courses.
(Boston, Mass.) - November 3, 1998 - Over 700 leading scientists from around the world descended on Boston this past week to attend the 16th Annual International Symposium on Laboratory Automation & Robotics (ISLAR), held on October 18–21. ISLAR is designed to provide the scientific community with an opportunity to share new ideas and exchange information on the latest developments in the expanding technology of laboratory automation and robotics.
ISLAR '98 featured 145 poster and podium presentations from a diverse group of presenters ranging from laboratory scientists to senior managers representing leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology and chemical industry leaders. The three-day program was organized into 26 sessions including:
Ultra High Throughput Screening
Managing Laboratory Automation in Drug Discovery
Managing Pharmaceutical Development & QC Labs
Bioanalytical Applications & Analysis
Combinatorial Chemistry
Data Analysis & Management
Pharmaceutical Analysis
Validation
Highlights included keynote speeches from James Bristol of Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research, Edward F. McNiff of Bristol-Myers Squibb and Juanita M. Hawkins of Janssen Pharmaceutica. Bristol discussed the new era in pharmaceuticals and how a number of new and enabling technologies such as combinatorial chemistry, ultra high throughput screening, genomics and data management combined with automation has the potential to transform pharmaceutical discovery into a highly efficient, technologically-advanced process.
More than 600 people attended and open house hosted by Zymark Corporation and more than 25 partner companies at its Hopkinton Massachusetts facility.
McNiff, the second keynote speaker, discussed challenges which exist in maintaining creativity of individual scientists while allowing an integrated and coordinated approach to automation within a multi-site, multi-functional organization. Hawkins, the final keynote speaker, discussed key areas of customer satisfaction in the laboratory, including the role of quality control and quality assurance, measures of accountability and progress, and how laboratory robotics can help meet these goals.
Other ISLAR highlights included the presentation of the Pioneer Awards, which recognizes scientists for their contributions in the field of laboratory automation and robotics. Each winner was responsible for developing a new application or designing a unique solution to a technical problem as well as implementing laboratory automation into their organizations. The award winners were nominated by their peers and selected by a committee of previous award winners. Pioneer awards have been presented at ISLAR since 1985 and in that time 120 scientists have been recognized for their contributions.
The 1998 Pioneer in Laboratory Robotics awards were presented to: Rudy Willebrords, Muhammad Alburakeh, Siegfried Brandtner, Jim Perry, Richard Wildonger, and Harnath Doddapaneni.
This year's Pioneer Award winners included:
Muhammed Alburakeh, Barr Laboratories, Pomona, NY
Siegfried Brandtner, Grunenthal GmbH, Germany
Harnath Doddapaneni, SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, King of Prussia, PA
Jim Perry, Proctor & Gamble, UK
Richard Wildonger, Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, Wilmington, DE
Rudy Willebrords, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Belgium.
As the premier technical symposium in this field, ISLAR attracted scientists from 33 states and 19 countries for this year's symposium. Other highlights included seven discussion groups, several workshops and 6 hands-on short courses.
ISLAR '99
Speaker and poster abstracts are currently being accepted for ISLAR '99. Speaker abstracts are due March 15, 1999 and poster abstracts are due July 15, 1999. For more information, contact Christine O'Neil, Symposium Manager, at (508) 435-3439.