Plato BioPharma and ADInstruments enter into strategic training partnership
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ADInstruments and Plato BioPharma have established a strategic training partnership agreement to improve in vivo pre-clinical research practices by providing advanced education courses with hands-on world-class instruction in a state-of-the-art facility, featuring the latest advances in life science research equipment technologies.
Dr. Plato has used ADInstruments PowerLab and LabChart software extensively since 2003 with 6 systems actively used at the lab bench. Research focus has been primarily diverse organ function including the cardiovascular, renal and pulmonary systems in support of drug discovery. Dr. Plato’s approach in the lab is straightforward about project efficiency, “In this fast-paced, dynamic environment, we need flexibility to respond to changing project demands and ease of use so we may rapidly cross-train our staff, all while maintaining the precision and standardization to enable throughput to support project decisions - the PowerLab with LabChart systems allow the best of both worlds.”
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A willingness to open the doors to Dr. Plato’s new company to researchers stems from a long term appreciation of the caliber of data acquisition and analysis needed by bench scientists these days. “Being able to evaluate waveforms and organ system performance in real-time allows on-the-fly adjustments to efficiently produce very high quality data and the software’s powerful data interface allows rapid, but careful and thorough data analysis and archiving.“ An educational partnership between the two companies grew from many years of engaging open dialog on ever changing application of hardware and software. It was only natural to extend this dialog to others for the betterment of the cardiovascular sciences. Dr. Plato’s feels his expert staff will pair nicely with ADInstruments for the planned series of workshops. “We find ADInstruments sales and technical support staff extremely helpful and engaged to help our team solve any hardware or software related challenges. We welcome the opportunity to display the ease and utility of ADInstruments’ PowerLab system and LabChart software to enable robust, state-of-the-art preclinical research”. |
Dr Craig Plato, CEO and Founder of Plato BioPharma, and Jeff Harris, Product and Support Manager ADInstruments |
The first ADI/PBI hands-on training workshop is planned for November 5, 2010 and details will be released soon to the Events Page on the ADInstruments website. Please contact workshop@adinstruments.com for more information on upcoming ADInstruments-hosted cardiovascular-focused researcher workshops at Plato BioPharma.
About Plato BioPharma, Inc.
Plato BioPharma, Inc. (PBI) is a pre-clinical drug discovery contract research organization (CRO). Our decades of pharmaceutical and biotech industry experience result in a focused, data intensive, communicative approach that helps clients navigate the complex drug discovery process more rapidly and effectively. With laboratories designed and opened in 2008, the company is a leader in models of Cardiovascular, Renal, Pulmonary, and Hepatic diseases. PBI utilizes state-of-the-art data acquisition platforms, and offers a comprehensive suite of research services ranging from pharmacokinetics and target-based functional screens through complex proof-of-concept studies. PBI is based in Denver, Colorado. http://www.platobiopharma.com/
About Craig Plato
Dr. Plato has over 10 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry and served as Head of In Vivo Pharmacology at both Myogen and Gilead Colorado from 2004-2010. He established Plato BioPharma, Inc. 2010 and has served small and large Biotech and Pharma in drug discovery.
While directing the cardiovascular group at Myogen, Craig’s team lead several drug discovery pharmacology projects including Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors, Protein Kinase D Inhibitors, and a-Myosin Heavy Chain activators for the Myogen-Novartis collaboration focusing on heart failure and pathological cardiac hypertrophy. Dr. Plato provided the first direct evidence and patented the use of HDAC inhibitors as combination therapeutics for the treatment of cardiac dysfunction. At Gilead Sciences, Dr. Plato lead CKD drug discovery efforts as well as participating in development activities of the Endothelin Receptor Antagonist program and managed the team responsible for generating preclinical data requested by the FDA for approval of Ambrisentan Orphan Drug status for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis in 2009. Prior to these efforts, Craig was a Senior Scientist responsible for leading cardiorenal drug discovery teams at Abbott Laboratories (2001-2004) in the Chicago area where he focused on diabetic nephropathy, electrophysiologic safety, and platelet and coagulation activation.
Dr. Plato received his Ph.D. Degree in Physiology from the Medical College of Wisconsin (1996), and completed his Post-Doctoral training in Hypertension and Vascular Research at Henry Ford Hospital. During Craig’s academic career, he was twice awarded the American Physiological Society (APS) “Excellence in Renal Research Award” and the American Heart Association Merck New Investigator Award. During Craig’s industry career he has served on the APS Renal Section Steering Committee (2006-2009) as well as sitting on, then Chairing, the APS “Physiologists in Industry Committee”.
08 September 2010
