Crown Bioscience Educational Webinar Series

• How this platform enables clients to efficiently determine how to progress their preclinical drug development efforts or conduct early-stage drug screening.
  
  
• The different immuno-oncology models offered in MuScreen that fit specific application scenarios due to their unique features.
  
  
• Why MuScreen’s model panel offers an ideal range of immuno-oncology interactions, supporting mechanism of action studies.
  
  
• How the panel is highly capable of discovering I/O biomarkers when used in conjunction with downstream analysis.

Bailey Zhong, PhD, Senior Manager of Scientific Engagement, Crown Bioscience (APAC regions)

Bailey (Yixiang) Zhong is the Senior Manager of Scientific Engagement for the APAC territory at Crown Bioscience. He specializes in providing IND-facing pharmacological solutions for new cancer drugs, as well as pre-clinical efficacy and MOA assays. Bailey joined Crown Bioscience after completing his PhD and post-doctoral training at Hanyang University in Korea. With ten years of research experience in multiple life science fields, including oncology, stem cell, organoid, and bioinformatics, Bailey has led over 150 external studies at Crown Bioscience and contributed to more than 30 sponsors’ IND/CTA submission projects. He has also published 5 peer-reviewed scientific articles. Bailey’s expertise and experience make him a valuable asset to the Crown Bioscience team.

• Compare the advantages and disadvantages of different irritable bowel disease models
  
  
• Understand the use of genetically engineered mouse colitis models to test human biologics
  
  
• Gain insight into the efficacy of traditional and novel therapeutics used in mouse models and their response in clinic

Astrid Doerner, PhD, Director of Inflammation and Immunology, Crown Bioscience

Dr. Doerner completed a Doctor of Sciences in Biochemistry at the Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Germany. Prior to that, she received a BS and MS in Chemistry from the University of Dortmund. Dr. Doerner had a postdoctoral fellowship at both the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla and the Division of Allergy, Rheumatology and Immunology, UCSD & Veterans Medical Research Foundation in La Jolla. Prior to joining Crown Bioscience in 2019, Dr. Doerner also worked as an Assistant Project Scientist at the Division of Allergy, Rheumatology and Immunology, UCSD & Veterans Medical Research Foundation.

Dr. Dorner’s research has focused on innate immunity in host defense and inflammation as well as acute and chronic allergic Asthma.

• Identify the appropriate database to find models based on your research needs.
  
  
• Make data-driven decisions on models by reviewing available information (e.g. patient clinical history, imaging, genomic and proteomic data).
  
  
• Use basic and advanced filtering and search functions to confidently choose models by target or other features.

Adrien Mossu, PhD, Senior Scientific Account Manager, Scientific Engagement

Dr. Adrien Mossu is an accomplished Sr. Scientific Account Manager with a strong background in immunology. During his MSc and PhD, Adrien delved into resolving inflammatory episodes and quickly became fascinated by the intricacies of cellular interactions, realizing their crucial role in targeting specific disorders. His postdoc work focused on multiple sclerosis, leading him to develop innovative physiological on-a-chip and in vitro models to study immune cells from patients. Driven by the desire to support fellow scientists, Adrien joined a preclinical immuno-oncology CRO as a Study Director, collaborating closely to drive projects forward. Enthusiastic about making a difference, Adrien joined Crown Bioscience in 2021, now devoted to scientifically empowering customers' preclinical research in oncology and inflammation.

• Expert guidance on selecting the most suitable in vitro and in vivo models for your specific research needs, optimizing drug screening, and conducting efficient efficacy testing.
  
  
• OrganoidBase™ - our free, extensive resource of patient data, which includes IC₅₀ values, light microscopy, histopathology, and genomic information.
  
  
• Case studies that demonstrate the power of functional screening using high-content imaging on a colorectal cancer PDO biobank. Witness how this approach can drive impactful discoveries and advance your research objectives.
  
  
• Cutting-edge IO assays with organoids, enabling flexible immune cell profiling and treatment evaluation. These advanced techniques can provide deeper insights into the efficacy and mechanisms of immunotherapies.

Sumithra Urs, PhD, Director, Scientific Engagement

Sumithra’s post-doctoral work on role of Notch signalling in human breast cancer fueled her interest in focusing on oncology and modelling. Prior to joining industry, she was at the University of Michigan, Translational Oncology Program, focused on pancreatic cancer research and establishing PDX models and 3D microtumors for drug screening. Sumi has more than six years of preclinical oncology experience using syngeneic mice tumor models, xenografts, and 3D platforms. As a subject matter expert in preclinical oncology, her experience includes pharmacology, immuno-oncology, CAR T/adoptive cell therapy, radiotherapy, and combination therapies. Sumi’s academic training as well as CRO experience in the preclinical space helps her understand client’s requirements and offer suggestions on model selection and study design specific to enable drug screening, efficacy and help in advancing to clinical trials.

• The establishment of pretreated PDX models with detailed treatment histories including KRAS inhibitors and checkpoint inhibitors.
  
  
• The characterization and validation of pretreated PDX models, including efficacy data
  
  
• Various preclinical applications (mouse clinical trials, databases, genomics, biomarker analysis) for the development and assessment of next generation oncology drugs.

Rekha Pal, PhD, Senior Director, Scientific Engagement

Dr. Pal is a trained cancer biologist with a focus on preclinical cancer therapeutics, immune-oncology, cancer signaling, and tumor microenvironment. She earned her PhD in Biochemistry from Central Drug Research Institute, India.

She joined the University of Pittsburgh as a postdoctoral researcher and moved onto research faculty. She has extensively worked in stem cell biology and translational cancer research using patient’s blood, tumor and bone marrow samples with a correlation of clinical data for the targeted biomarker identification with the drug treatment.

She joined National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel project (NSABP), a clinical trial supportive group to develop strategies for preclinical evaluation of test agents to support NSABP’s phase I/II clinical trials for colon and breast cancer. She also led the effort of organoids generation from the PDX tumor tissue to screen drugs or drug combinations as personalized medicine. Rekha represented NSABP as a translational research committee member on B-50 Katherine-B027938 Roche study.

Dr. Pal’s role at Crown Bioscience is to direct scientific engagement with pharmaceutical companies, academic scientists, and clients. She helps indecision making with the goal of high scientific input in study design and model execution. She exchanges scientific information for existing and new opportunities between Business Development and the scientific team, generates protocols, study design and proposals to define projects/ studies.