High-Throughput/Robotic Screening Archives - Sanford Burnham Prebys

For the past 20 years, Dr. Ian Pass has worked in basic research and drug discovery within several major pharmaceutical companies. Throughout this practical experience and formal education, he has acquired detailed knowledge and practical expertise in high-throughput screening, biochemical and cell-based assay development, liquid handling, assay miniaturization, laboratory automation and robotics, compound management. He also routinely leads discovery programs within the Prebys Center, leveraging his expertise in biochemistry, to drive molecules through advanced drug discovery phases.

Ian received his PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Dundee, UK.  Ian completed his postdoc at Sanford Burnham Preys in cancer research, and later joined the Prebys Center as a Chemical Biology Team Lead. He also directs the HTS and Compound Management group at the center.

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Related Disease
HIV/AIDS, Infectious Diseases, Molecular Biology

Phenomena or Processes
Host-Pathogen Interactions, Infectious Disease Processes, Inflammation, Innate Immunity

Anatomical Systems and Sites
Immune System and Inflammation

Research Models
Clinical and Transitional Research, Computational Modeling, Human, Human Cell Lines, Mouse, Mouse Cell Lines, Primary Cells, Primary Human Cells

Techniques and Technologies
Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, Cellular and Molecular Imaging, Drug Discovery, Drug Efficacy, Gene Expression, Gene Knockout (Complete and Conditional), Gene Silencing, High-Throughput/Robotic Screening, RNA Interference (RNAi), Systems Biology

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Dr. Yu Xin (Will) Wang received his PhD at the University of Ottawa where he identified cellular asymmetry and polarity mechanisms regulating muscle stem cell self-renewal and skeletal muscle regeneration. He then carried out postdoctoral training at Stanford University School of Medicine developing single cell multi-omic approaches to characterize the regenerative process and what goes awry with disease and aging.  

“I’ve always had a passion for science and became fascinated with how the body repairs and heals itself when I was introduced to the potential of stem cells in regenerative medicine. I was struck by the ability of a small pool of muscle stem cells that can rebuild and restore the function of muscle. My lab at Sanford Burnham Prebys aims to better understanding the repair process and harness our body’s ability to heal in order to combat chronic diseases and even counteract aging.”

Education and Training

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Stanford University School of Medicine
PhD in Cellular Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Canada
BS in Biomedical Sciences, University of Ottawa, Canada

Prestigious Funding Awards

2020: NINDS K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award

Honors and Recognition

Governor General’s Gold Medal – Canada

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Dr. Xiao Tian participates in the Degenerative Diseases Program and the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys. He started his lab in 2024 to understand the fundamental biology of aging and its contribution to age-related diseases. He joined the Institute after his postdoctoral research in Dr. David Sinclair’s lab at Harvard Medical School where he co-wrote the Information Theory of Aging. He obtained his BS from Shandong University and his PhD from the University of Rochester where he worked with Dr. Vera Gorbunova.
 

Education

2018-2023: Postdoc, Harvard Medical School
2016-2018: Postdoc, University of Rochester
2010-2016: PhD, Biology of Aging, University of Rochester
2005-2009: BS, Microbial Technology, Shandong University
 

Honors and Awards

2020-2026: K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Awards, NIH/NIA
2019-2020: NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship, NASA Ames Research Center
2017: Outstanding Dissertation Award for the Natural Sciences, University of Rochester
2015: Messersmith Dissertation Fellowship, University of Rochester
2014: Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad, China Scholarship Council
2010-2014: Holtfreter Fellowship, University of Rochester
2007: Weichai Power Scholarship, Shandong University
2006-2008: Excellent Student Scholarship, Shandong University

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Xueqin (Sherine) Sun seeks to better understand the genetic and epigenetic underpinnings of cancers, using genome editing technologies, animal and patient-derived models, and other tools to develop more effective cancer therapies.

“My lab is interested in studying how DNA or the machinery that interprets it leads to the transformation of normal cells into cancerous cells and concurrently, their specific vulnerabilities. Identifying these intrinsic vulnerabilities and targeting them properly is profoundly important to developing effective cancer therapies.”

Another aspect of Sun’s work is understanding how cancer cells and tumors change their circumstances and environment to improve survival, including hiding from or repressing the immune system.

“Changes to DNA itself and the way how DNA is interpreted by cells can transform normal cells into cancer cells. And transformed cells propagate by enhancing the misinterpreted DNA information, which in turn becomes the Achilles’ heel of cancer cells. Our goal is to find out how DNA information is misinterpreted in different ways and how to correct it to halt cancer.”

At Sanford Burnham Prebys, Sun and colleagues will employ a host of leading-edge tools and approaches, including functional genomics, artificial intelligence, structural biology, large-scale drug screening, and advanced imaging/spatial technologies.

Sun conducted her postdoctoral fellowship at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory under the guidance of Alea Mills, PhD, a professor at the National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center at Cold Spring Harbor.

She received her PhD from Wuhan University in China.

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