Practical Bio-Banking Liquid Handling Automation Hands-on Workshop:
Liquid Handling requirements for producing quality results
This course will be held with Stem Cells Europe, World Biobanking Summit and Cellular Therapy Summit.
Bio-banking is the creation of repositories of biological and/or genetic specimen. The sample types stored can be extremely diverse in their nature. As areas of research supported by large human sample collections and bio-repositories grow the demand for quality samples becomes the norm. Laboratory Automation is essential for handling increasing bio-specimen collections. Proper training and knowledge in the use of liquid handling equipment is necessary for processing bio-specimen. This requires skill, technique, and hands-on experience of a laboratory’s liquid handling equipment. If conducting research studies, clinical trials, drug discovery, or developing a product, the understanding of the physical concepts, the operation, and the processing of samples with laboratory automated liquid handlers is critical for maintaining compliances, following or developing standard operating procedures or protocols, producing quality results, maintain quality control, optimizing processing, and following industry standards and best practices that may satisfy Good Laboratory Practices (GLP), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Safety, and/or regulatory requirements.
Many of these samples will be used for applications such as high throughput/automated laboratory assays. A key component of the automated laboratory environment is the automated liquid handler. Whether you intend to use one to prep samples for storage, create daughter plates from bio-bank resources or perform an assay, you must use an automated liquid handler to achieve your goals.
Knowing which automated liquid handler meets your needs requires becoming familiar with the terminology, capabilities and common uses. This workshop course will introduce you to the technology, terminology and capabilities while allowing you hands on experience on actual automated liquid.
VALUE IN ATTENDING
- Gain good laboratory and manufacturing best practices and learn to validate “quality” results
- Learn to verify you are working with quality samples
- Gain hands-on experience on many robotic liquid handling equipment
- Gain exposure to the different software responsible for controlling the automated liquid deliver equipment
- Gain a physical understanding of liquid handling concepts
- Work with many pieces of equipment
- Go through optimizing various pipetting scenarios
- Learn to validate your results and fine tune the performance of your equipment
- Get all what you need in one focused day of training
- See differences among various liquid handlers
- Work with many different users in team on important labs on each piece of equipment
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This course is meant for users of laboratory automated equipment. The following is an abbreviated list of users that have attended:
- GLP and GMP Compliance Officers
- Bio-Banking Business Analysts and Managers
- Research Technicians
- Clinical Researchers
- Laboratory Managers
- Product Developers
- Service and Application Engineers
- Robot maintenance personnel
- QA-QC personnel
- Laboratory automation engineers
- Laboratory managers
- Users interested in hands-on experience with liquid handling robots
- Anyone planning to purchase liquid handling equipment
- New Sales Reps learning about the field
HOW YOU WILL BENEFIT
- Master the terminology & methods of bio-specimen automated liquid handling
- Practice optimal pipetting techniques of bio-specimen
- Understand various bio-storage and retrieval equipment
- Understand reagent & chemical compatibility issues
- Become familiar with validation/QC testing techniques & options
- Learn proper decontamination techniques
- Operate real liquid handling robots with liquids of various sample types and handling characteristics
TENTATIVE EQUIPMENT LIST
- Beckman Biomek® FX
- Qiagen
- Caliper Sciclone ALH 3000
- Tecan Freedom EVO®
- Velocity11 VPrep
- PerkinElmer JANUS®
- Hamilton Nimbus NVS
- Eppendorf epMotion®
- Artel MVS®
COURSE TOPICS
Lecture
- Introduction to bio-banking automated equipment and liquid handling robots
- Safety Issues in the Biobank
- Liquid handling terminology, issues and techniques
- Reagent and chemical compatibility and handling issues
- Validation and QC techniques and options
- Decontamination protocols
Hands-on Laboratory Exercises
You will work on each instrument's software and setup protocols, adjust settings to handle various liquid classes. You will validate the techniques and measure accuracy and precision. You will fine tuning settings to your liquid class working with varying types of liquids from thin to viscous. You will implore mixing techniques and measure tip-by-tip performance.
Below is a summary of some of the hands-on exercises you may conduct:
- Hands-on sample processing of most major robotic liquid handling equipment
- Liquids of varying viscosities
- Dispense height
- Dispense speed
- Air gaps
- Foamy head problems
- Mixing techniques
- Tip-by-tip performance measurement
Paper lab coats and gloves will be provided if desired. Please bring protective lab glasses or goggles.