SINGAPORE and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- CompuCyte Corporation and the National University of Singapore today announced the establishment of the Southeast Asia Regional Quantitative Imaging Cytometry Center, to be located at the National University of Singapore. The Center will expand a research collaboration program already in place between the two organizations.
Under the expanded agreement, the National University of Singapore will provide symposia and educational programs for researchers involved in cell-based and tissue-based research using quantitative imaging cytometry systems. CompuCyte will provide up-to-date technology and software, as well as technical and scientific applications support. As part of the agreement, the National University of Singapore has obtained an iCys(R) Research Imaging Cytometer from CompuCyte. The first symposium under the agreement will take place on March 1, 2007 at the University.
“We expect that the Center will help educate cell and molecular biology researchers on the important role that Quantitative Imaging Cytometry can play in biomedical research,” explained Shazib Pervaiz, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and the National University of Singapore Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering. “The ability to obtain detailed quantitative data from biologic specimens, and at the same time visually examine specimen morphology, provides researchers with a major tool for advancing our understanding of the molecular basis of disease and identifying novel disease signatures which could be potential diagnostic markers or targets for drug design. We look forward to working with CompuCyte to jointly host this workshop on the use of automated laser scanning cytometry for both basic and clinical research in Singapore and the ASEAN countries.”
“The establishment of the Regional Quantitative Imaging Cytometry Center in Singapore is a significant milestone in our collaboration with the University,” added Dr. Elena Holden, CompuCyte’s president and chief executive officer. “Our proprietary technology is in use by academic centers and pharmaceutical companies worldwide for automated quantitative analysis of adherent cellular and tissue specimens. The exceptional performance characteristics of the new generation of LSC technology warrant extension of its use into tumor biology and drug discovery. Our current focus is to explore the ability to cytometrically identify the signaling profiles of tumor cells, measure the biomarker profile of patients prior to treatment to determine their response to particular drugs and monitor the pharmacodynamic effects of a wide range of novel drugs targeting specific signaling pathways.”
The Southeast Asia Regional Center in Singapore represents an international extension of CompuCyte’s Technology Workshops in the United States and Europe.
CompuCyte Corporation, a private company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a leader in the development of cellular analysis instrumentation for life science research, drug safety, toxicology studies and clinical trials. The company’s iCyte(R), iCys(R), and iColor(TM) cytometers enable quantitative cytometric image analysis of cellular and tissue specimens.
CompuCyte Corporation
CONTACT: Kate Hilburn, Director of Communications of CompuCyteCorporation, +1-617-577-4535, khilburn@compucyte.com; or Shazib Pervaiz,Professor, National University of Singapore, +65 65166602, phssp@nus.edu.sg
