AstraZeneca Director to speak at 5th Assay Conference Sept 20-21, 2010 San Diego

Online, June 19, 2010 (Newswire.com) - SAN DIEGO, CA Robert Bostwick, Director, CNS and Pain HTS Center AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, to speak at GTCbio's 5th Assay and Drug Discovery Technologies on Sept. 20-21, 2010 in San Diego, CA.

Robert Bostwick will give a presentation on "Optimizing Value from HTS" at 5th Assay and Drug Discovery Technologies Conference to be held this year in San Diego, CA Sept. 20-21, 2010 by GTCbio. Historically, using HTS approach results in about a 50% success rate in identifying useful hits. By analyzing HTS data in combination with information gained from other approaches such as computational modeling, fragment screening, and multi-parameter screening, the success rate in finding quality hits can be enhanced. Examples of these different combination approaches will be given.

Robert Bostwick earned his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry at the University of Houston studying the distribution and metabolism of polyphosphoinositides and their involvement in intracellular signaling in the brain and trained as a post-doctoral fellow at Baylor College of Medicine studying trophic effects on neuronal development. He was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at BCM and developed a research program studying mechanisms involved in the regulation of neurotransmitter synthesis in dopaminergic and cholinergic nerve terminals. His research interest grew to study the involvement of calcium channels in regulating neurotransmitter uptake and release. He later joined Fisons Pharmaceuticals which eventually became part of AstraZeneca. During his 17 year tenure in industry, he has worked on over 50 different drug discovery programs to provide in vitro biochemical and cell-based screening support, serving in various roles including group, section, department and project leadership. With the creation of AstraZeneca through merger, he became Head of a newly formed Assay Development and High Throughput Screening Section and was instrumental in establishing the HTS Center in Wilmington, DE that he currently directs.

Also presenting at the Assay and Drug Discovery Technologies are prestigious organizations including Burnham Medical Research Institute, Pfizer, UCSF, AstraZeneca, UCLA, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech, National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology, Johnson & Johnson, Nexigen GmbH, University of Pennsylvania, Roche, UCD, Abbott, Merck, Novartis (GNF), and other leaders in the Assay and Drug Discovery Technologies industry.

5th Assay and Drug Discovery Technologies Conference features a mixture of academic, industry and public sector experts in an intimate setting that favors the showcase of data, the exchanges of ideas and networking. Professionals in the drug discovery industry and academics to can get an update of exciting new developments in assay technologies and exchange ideas in developing creative approaches in the drug discovery and development process to improve the efficiency and output. For more information, visit www.gtcbio.com.