Tim Peakman is Executive Director for UK Biobank and has overall responsibility for the day-to-day running of the organisation. Tim started work at UK Biobank in April 2004 as the director of operations and has led the design, implementation and operation of the study. With ten year research experience in the pharmaceutical industry and as a senior consultant in drug discovery, Tim brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to UK Biobank. As a consultant, at PricewaterhouseCoopers, he advised discovery organisations in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries on a variety of projects addressing productivity of early drug discovery pipelines. His particular interest was the effective planning and implementation of automation in complex drug discovery processes. He has written a number of papers on transferring process and methodology from industrialisation in other industries and on implementing supply chain disciplines to high throughput screening. In the pharmaceutical industry, Tim worked on humanising monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of HIV and autoimmune disease. Later his research focused on the molecular events leading to epilepsy and pain. He completed his doctoral studies on bacterial anaerobic gene regulation at the University of Birmingham in 1988.

Presentation:  Implementation of the UK Biobank
Paul Downey, Director of Operations, UK Biobank

UK Biobank is a new organisation, set up to facilitate efficient medical and scientific research. The project will recruit 500,000 volunteer members of the public over a period of three years. The volunteers provide detailed information about the health and lifestyle and consent to access to their health care records. This will form a valuable resource that can be rapidly accessed by research organisations.

In order to deliver the project, a national network of recruitment clinics has been established to receive and process the volunteer participants. A biological specimen processing factory has been constructed and an automated biological specimen repository developed, having the capacity to process and store the 14,000,000 sample aliquots that will be created.

The use and delivered benefits of utilising modern manufacturing practices to design implement and operate a sample processing facility will be discussed. The use of appropriate techniques during the evolving phases of the project: the research and design phase, the operations development phase and the operational phase will be covered. Selection and implementing appropriate culture and quality systems at the phases of the project to support the organisational objectives will be discussed.

Paul Downey took up his post as Director of Operations for the UK Biobank in July 2004 after seven years supplying automation systems to industry and the experience of setting up and managing a DNA bank,. Paul is responsible for the development and management of the UK Biobank laboratory and clinical facilities. Given the project scale, coordinating the collection, transport, fractionation and storage of samples for future analysis is a complex task. Paul previously worked as a project Director at Centre for Integrated Genomic Medical Research (CIGMR), based at the University of Manchester, where is set up and managed the Medical Research Council (MRC) DNA bank Paul graduated with a BSc in Biology from Lancaster University and the University of Florida, Gainsville in June 1998. Paul is also a Director of a Manchester-based biotechnology company and is completing an MBA with the University of Leicester Management School.

Presentation:   The Pfizer Liquid Store, DNA & BioFluids REMP Store
Craig Hines, Manager, Liquid Store Center of Emphasis, Pfizer - Kings Heights Technology Center
Diane Johnson, Head of DNA & BioFluids Center of Emphasis, Pfizer - Kings Heights Technology Center
Leonid Vodonos, Facility Manager, Pfizer - Kings Heights Technology Center

This presentation will discuss the Kings Heights Technology Center scientific business objectives in conjunction with the facility support infrastructure and operational service delivery model. The presenters will provide details of the unique relationship between the Kings Heights Scientific Lines and Global Operations that laid foundation for a dynamic and State-of-the-Art technological facility.

Recently Global Operations has collaboratively developed and implemented a wide variety of business specific services including Processing Labs humidity control, management of service contracts based on contractual partnership, scheduling and coordination of preventative maintenance, demand repair work, handling service related documentation, Facility Center asset management, 24/7 monitoring and equipment emergency response, production process consumable supply/tracking and lab support technical services. Global Operations has made a commitment to deliver cost-effective services and solutions that enhance scientific productivity.

The timelines for design, manufacture, and installation of the REMP Stores will be presented. As well as a number of functionalities that was developed for the Liquid Store, DNA & BioFluids REMP store & laboratories.

Craig received his BS in Chemical Engineering from Michigan State University in 1980 where he was also licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a Reactor Operator for the university research nuclear reactor. Upon graduation he was an R&D engineer for DuPont at the Savannah River Laboratory, specializing in the solvent extraction of Uranium and Plutonium from irradiated fuel. Later, he was a shift supervisor for several of the nuclear reactors at the Savannah River Plant. He joined Northeast Utilities in 1987 to teach Nuclear Reactor Theory and Thermodynamics to the operators at the four nuclear power plants in Connecticut and was licensed as a Senior Reactor Operator. During his tenure with Northeast Utilities, he also spent eight years as an engineering supervisor for instrument and controls engineers at the Millstone Nuclear Power Station. Craig joined Pfizer in 2001 and was the business lead for several large automation initiatives at the Kings Heights Technology Center. In 2003 he transitioned to the role of operational manager responsible for supporting the daily production activities for Material Management at Kings Heights. As part of that role, he was responsible for representing the business during the design, construction, and testing of the automation to support the DNA & BioFluids Center of Emphasis. In April of this year, he was appointed to his current position as the lead for the Liquid Store Center of Emphasis but continues in an advisory role on the operation of the REMP -20/-80 store for the storage and retrieval of DNA & BioFluids.

Diane research has centered in the field of Drug Metabolism, Laboratory Automation, High Throughput Technologies and Material Management during her career at Pfizer Global Research & Development. Currently she is the Head of Pfizer DNA & BioFluids Center of Emphasis at Kings Heights Technology Center in Groton, CT. Additionally, Diane serves as a role model for Women in Technology, a program at the Community College of Rhode Island committed to helping women and minorities to understand more fully the opportunities that are available in technology related programs of study.

Lenny received his BS in Electrical Engineering from Polytechnic College, Minsk, Belarus and Facility Management Designation from BOMI (Building Owners and Manages Institute International), Hartford, USA. During his career, he worked as a supervisor at Minsk Subway construction, Project Manager at new Minsk International Airport, and Facility Manager at Belarusian Academy of Science. He jointed Pfizer in 1998 and developed relevant expertise in the areas of: All phases of facility and project management, Building start up and commissioning, Development and implementation of operational M&O programs, Lab Instrumentation services program development and administration, Contract administration and outsourcing strategies. Lenny received a Pfizer Global Operations Excellence Award in 2007 for his supporting role in the BioBank project development and -20 /-80C cooling system design.

Presentation:  The Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository
Dr. Andrew Brooks, Associate Director of Technology Development for the Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (RUCDR)

The Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (RUCDR) is among the largest academic repositories in the world. The scope of the repository grows every year and includes service offerings that range from DNA extraction to cell line immortalization in addition to a considerable sample distribution program. Currently the RUCDR maintains several large federal respoitories for the following NIH institutes: NIAAA, NIDA, NIMH and NIDDK. Additionally, the RUCDR services several foundation projects that include and are not limited to the Simons Autism Foundation and the New Jersey Tourettes collection. In total the RUCDR currently manages over 60 different clinically based projects through these and other agencies which help geneticists around the world understand the genetic basis for over 25 different diseases. In order to coordinate the collection and processing of samples from over 400 collection sites worldwide and manage over 1 million cell line aliquots and 750,000 samples in mechanical storage the RUCDR has developed several sophisticated automation schemes to handle many aspects of the RUCDR workflow. The structure of the RUCDR, a description of its automation infrastructure and a detailed overview of the programs services will be discussed.

Dr. Brooks is Director of the Bionomics Research and Technology Center. He currently holds an appointment as an Associate Professor of Envrionmental Medicine and Genetics at UMDNJ / Rutgers. Additionaly, Dr. Brooks is the Associate Director of Technology Development for the Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (RUCDR). Dr. Brooks laboratory has three main areas of interest. First, his group works on deciphering the molecular mechanisms that underlie memory and learning. They utilize a variety of technologies for genetic modification as well as investigate gene-environment interactions in the context of aging, neurodegenerative disease and neurotoxicant exposure. Their research utilizes many high-throughput genomics based technologies to study these areas. Second, his group is involved in the development of novel informatics approaches to better understand complex genomics-based data sets. The team has recently developed a novel method for interpreting complex gene expression data sets as a function of biological relevance. This approach is being utilized both in the basic science and clinical arenas. Lastly, Dr. Brooks?team is engaged in a number of technology development programs. Currently, they are developing new applications in the area of transcript profiling and protein profiling that can be applied to both standard and novel technology platforms. Dr. Brooks has held regional positions such as Director of the AMDeC Microarray Resource Center, which helps coordinate all microarray and genomics related activities for New York State. On a national level, Dr. Brooks recently chaired the Microarray Research Group for the Association of Biomedical Resource Facilities.

Note: These presentations will be archived on our Presentations page:
https://www.lab-robotics.org/meeting_presentations.htm

Menu

Beginning at 3:00 PM we have a Deli Buffet with:
Super Beef with Roast Beef, Pastrami & Muenster on Pumpernickel
Sloppy Joe with Turkey, Ham & Swiss on Rye with Russian dressing
Mozzarella, Basil & Roasted Red Pepper on French Bread & Red Bliss Potato Salad

Then at 4:00 PM we serve Hot entrees:
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Fried Chicken, Four Cheese Baked Pasta; Tricolor Rotini with Fresh Vegetables Aioli

Accompanying the buffet and entrees:
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Brownies & Assorted Layer cakes
Fresh Brewed Coffee, Decaf & Tea
Cash bar

Food and refreshments are free of charge to attendees - they are paid for by the exhibitors, so please be sure to visit all their tables!

Directions:

Detailed directions may be found at <http://lifesci.rutgers.edu/~genetics/directions.asp>.

Do not believe your GPS! We found out the hard way that the GPS maps put you into the "other" section of Bevier Road which is not contiguous with the section where you will find the Life Science Building. For you GPS techies, the LSB is actually at Latitude 40?1'27.41"N, Longtitude 74?7'49.01"W.

We've posted a Google map at <http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=40.524288,-74.463626&spn=0.005978,0.009978&t=h&z=17&msid=105337714125451318779.00044649eeb95c5ce70ab>

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