ELRIG Announces Speaker Programme for Drug Discovery 2012 Conference

ELRIG (European Laboratory Robotics Interest Group) today announced the programme for its 6th Annual Drug Discovery Conference, in collaboration with SLAS (Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening). The conference is to be held at Manchester Central Convention Complex on 5th – 6th September 2012. Registration for the event is free and over 1,000 delegates are expected to attend.

During the event, scientists engaged in early-phase drug discovery, whether from academia, biotech or industry, will have a chance to network and meet with a wide selection of vendors during the exhibition which features over 100 booths, an Innovation Zone, Media Area and Careers Zone.

A programme of scientific sessions will feature presentations from a range of academic and industry leaders in their fields, including the following keynote speakers:

• Chris Lipinski, Massechusetts University (Assay Development and Screening)
• Rod Hubbard, Vernalis (Fragment Discovery for Enzyme & Membrane Targets)
• Michael Schneider, Imperial College London (Primary Cells & Stem Cells in Discovery)
• John Mayer, Nottingham University (Ubiquitin Cascade Biology & Drug Discovery)
• Speaker to be confirmed (Advances in Liquid Handling & Detection Technologies)
• Joerg Heuser, Bayer (Compound Collection Management & Enhancement)
• Nessa Carey, Pfizer (Epigenetics Drug Discovery)
• Manfred Auer, Edinburgh University (Biophysics & Label Free Detection Technologies).

New at this year’s event is a Lunchtime Seminar: in collaboration with SLAS, titled ‘Informatics: Making Knowledge from Laboratory Data’. The presentations will be complemented by a poster session, and a number of vendor training sessions.

At this year’s event, students, graduates and post-docs are again invited to compete for the SLAS Young Scientist Award by submitting a poster at the conference. The winner, selected by a panel of judges including scientists, ELRIG and SLAS personnel, will be invited to present and participate in the Student Poster Competition at the SLAS2013, in Orlando, FL, USA, 12-16 January 2013. SLAS Young Scientist Award winners receive a $500 cash prize, roundtrip airfare, hotel accommodation and conference registration for SLAS2013.

To find out more and to register for the conference please visit the company website.