Christopher Austin, M.D., Named as Keynote Speaker at CHI’s 3D Tissue Models Conference

Sept. 29, 2011 - PRLog -- Cambridge Healthtech Institute (CHI) confirmed its keynote speaker at its sixth annual Predictive Functional Human Tissue Models conference, to be held on November 17-18, 2011 at the Omni Parker House in Boston, MA, to be Dr. Christopher P. Austin of the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Austin will update the audience on “Translational Therapeutics Development at the NIH.” His talk is on Friday, November 18 at 8:20-9:00 a.m. The explosion in mechanistic understanding of human physiology in health and disease, exemplified by the Human Genome Project and its successors, has provided a deluge of potential new targets for therapeutic development. At the same time, evolution of technologies and operational systems for drug discovery has allowed investigators and institutions in the public sector to contribute directly to new therapeutics discovery in a more vigorous way, particularly for rare and neglected diseases.

Over the last decade, the NIH has built a variety of programs which complement drug discovery efforts in the biopharmaceutical sector, principally in two areas: (a) science, technology, tool, and paradigm development to improve scientific understanding and efficiency of the therapeutics discovery process, and (b) early stage drug development programs to de-risk projects particularly for rare and neglected diseases, making them more amenable to biopharmaceutical adoption despite their low expected ROI.  The mission and accomplishments of these programs will be discussed. The NCTT's programs span the translational spectrum, including the Genome-wide RNAi program, the NIH Chemical Genomics Center (NCGC), the Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) program, and the Rapid Access to Interventional Development (RAID) program.

The NCGC is an ultrahigh-throughput screening, informatics, and chemistry center that profiles small molecule libraries for biological activity using its qHTS technology, and develops novel compounds as probes of biology and starting points for the development of new drugs for rare and neglected diseases. The NCGC also develops new paradigms to increase the efficiency and genome-wide reach of assay, screening, chemistry, and informatics technologies, and is a partner with NTP, EPA, and FDA in the Toxicology in the 21st Century (Tox21) Program. The TRND program develops small molecules and biologics from lead to clinical proof-of concept for rare and neglected diseases.

Before joining NIH in 2002, Dr. Austin directed research programs genomics-based target discovery, pharmacogenomics, and neuropsychiatric drug development at Merck, with a particular focus on schizophrenia. Dr. Austin received his A.B. in biology summa cum laude from Princeton, and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He completed clinical training in internal medicine and neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and a postdoctoral fellowship in genetics at Harvard.

For full details and to register, please visit http://www.healthtech.com/3DTissueModels.
Those that register by October 7 will receive the advance registration discount.

To inquire about sponsoring and/or exhibiting, contact Carol Dinerstein, 781-972-5471, dinerstein@healthtech.com.

Writers and editors are encouraged to attend. To request a press pass, contact Tracey Fielding at tfielding@healthtech.com.

About Cambridge Healthtech Institute (www.chicorporate.com)

Cambridge Healthtech Institute (CHI) is the preeminent life science network for leading researchers and business experts from top pharmaceutical, biotech and academic organizations. CHI’s portfolio of products includes Cambridge Healthtech Institute Conferences, Insight Pharma Reports, Barnett International, Cambridge Marketing Consultants, Cambridge Meeting Planners and Cambridge Healthtech’s Media Group, which includes numerous e-newsletters as well as Bio-IT World magazine.

Founded in 1992, Cambridge Healthtech Institute strives to develop quality information sources that provide valuable new insights and competing points of view while offering balanced coverage of the latest developments. Basic research related to commercial implications is covered, with heavy emphasis placed on end-user insights into new products and technology as well as coverage on the strategy behind the business.

Contact:
James Prudhomme
Cambridge Healthtech Institute
781-972-5400
jprudhomme@healthtech.com