Southern Research HTS Center Goes Live with its 100th Assay in UNIFlow™

Earlier this year, the High Throughput Screening Center at Southern Research Institute in Birmingham, Alabama passed a most interesting milestone in its usage of the UNIFlow™ LIMS:  they completed and went live with their 100th assay.

This success story started in 2005 when Lynn Rasmussen, HTS Center Supervisor for Southern Research, became tired of trying to force fit conventional LIMS software into her lab.  After learning about the UNIFlow™ technology, she was convinced that it provided new capabilities that could help her lab grow and expand.

Following the successful UNIFlow implementation, Lynn published a peer-reviewed article describing the implementation process in JALA, the official journal of the Association for Laboratory Automation.

Since that time, the HTS Center has continued to achieve great success by continually adding new assays to its UNIFlow system each time they secure a new grant or contract.  With UNIFlow, Southern Research’s own staff can make all of the necessary changes themselves – sometimes in less than a day.  If the new assay utilizes similar or identical steps to the existing assays, it can be configured, tested, and ready for use in just a few hours.  If new steps are needed, the development may extend to a few days.  With some other technologies, the process of adding new assays could take months — if it were even completed at all.  With UNIFlow Southern Research can respond to new projects with great speed.

Clinton Maddox is a Southern Research biochemist in the HTS group with 10 years of experience in biochemistry and assay design.  He is also a UNIFlow Certified Process Engineer and has personally created all of the assays. (Current count is 103 and growing.) When asked what he likes the most about his UNIFlow system he reported:

“Flexibility.  I could never do this with an out-of-the-box system because it would take too long and cost too much.

Speed of Implementation – I can add a new requirement or a new workflow in less than a day.

Immediate Feedback Cycle – When I implement something new I get immediate feedback and can instantly respond to the feedback.  This has made the lab techs love the system because they are involved in the process.  I have absolutely no system adoption or acceptance issues.”

Due to the success of the HTS system, the Influenza Vaccine Research Lab at Southern Research selected UNIFlow for its GLP compliant laboratory operation.  Once again, Southern Research personnel built and validated the system on their own with minimal guidance and input from UNIConnect. As the HTS Center continues to need new assays, UNIFlow will continue to grow and expand to meet their new demands.