Background

The CCG screening facility is built around modular workstations, and assays are generally carried out in 96 or 384-well plates. The CCG compound collection is continuously growing, and over 240,000 compounds are available for screening. The facility will also provide training to investigators on use of the facility with access to compound libraries and training in the use of some instruments, such as robotic compound transfer systems, liquid handling equipment and plate readers. Staff members run all complex automation for screens. Data from all screens performed by the HTS laboratory are collected and stored in a non-public, central database to allow researchers to rapidly evaluate and compare results of their screens.

Started as the Michigan Drug Exploration Initiative by a small group of faculty in the Medical School and the Pharmacy School in 2002, the effort grew with the addition of a small chemical library and liquid handling robot funded by the Medical School, OVPR and the Cancer Center. In 2004 the initiative joined with the CCG as part of the Life Sciences Institute to form a core facility within the University of Michigan for high throughput screening and chemical tool/academic drug discovery.