Products and Applications

The S.M.A.R.T. Facility is equipped with two robotic platforms and other stand-alone instrumentation that make feasible the development and implementation of a large array of assay types, in either a 96- or 384-well format. The high level of flexibility of this Facility also translates into the opportunity to implement a variety of screening rationales, thanks to our robust collection of libraries that include bioactives, FDA-approved drugs, drug-like chemicals, semi-natural products and interference RNAs.

The Facility's personnel have a proven expertise in assay development, management of compounds for screening, lab automation and data storage/analysis, in addition to the scientific knowledge and the excellence in health research available throughout the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute.

We are delighted to assist researchers in any steps necessary to perform experimental designs under high-throughput conditions, for either screening purposes or to dramatically expedite manual protocols which are routinely conducted on the bench.

For high-throughput screening programs, we are available to discuss and professionally advise on the following, key aspects:

    √  Screen rationale and biological relevance of molecular targets;
    √  Choice of optimal cell-based systems for primary and secondary screens;
    √  Choice of a suitable assay and development of a corresponding protocol for high-throughput formats;
    √  Assay optimization based on sensitivity, accuracy, precision, reproducibility, throughput and cost;
    √  Assay validation;
    √  Assay miniaturization;
    √  Biochemical characterization of "hit" compounds and secondary tests prior to preclinical studies;
    √  Basic and more advanced concepts in data analysis;
    √  Data storage and management. Use of a large database system to perform cross-references of "hit" compounds.