Pioneering automation project will enhance the speed and scale of brain disease research

HOUSTON — The Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (‘Duncan NRI’) at Texas Children’s Hospital, a world-class neuroscience research institute based in Houston, announces a groundbreaking advancement in its research capabilities, with the implementation of a state-of-the-art automation platform for human cellular model generation, maintenance, and characterization, in collaboration with Boston-based Automata Technologies (‘Automata’).

As a global leader in pediatric and adult neurological disease research, the Duncan NRI is dedicated to understanding and discovering novel therapies for autism, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, and many other brain disorders. The Institute recently partnered with Automata, a leading life science automation company, to introduce high-throughput automation for their human cell model research program. Human-derived stem cells enable the creation of powerful disease models tailored for individual patients and can therefore accelerate the discovery of personalized and precision therapies.

Developed by Automata, LINQ represents the next generation of lab automation technology, and its introduction marks a pivotal moment in Duncan NRI’s mission to advance the understanding of brain disorders and discover novel treatments that may help millions around the world.

The Automata LINQ platform will transform the Duncan NRI’s investigations of high-fidelity human disease models. This advanced system facilitates both the automation of large-scale cell culture along with powerful cell-based assays, allowing researchers to process more samples at a faster rate while maintaining exceptional data quality.

The comprehensive system includes live microscopy and high-density microelectrode arrays, permitting automated, continuous monitoring of cell structure and function that can reveal how disease affects brain circuit connections and activity over time. Human neuron models derived from stem cells can also be deployed for more complex, three-dimensional “mini-brain” disease models.

“Implementing LINQ will be a game-changer for our research,” said renowned neuroscientist, Dr. Huda Zoghbi, who is the founding Director of Duncan NRI, Distinguished Service Professor at Baylor College of Medicine, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. “Automation will significantly enhance the pace and scope of our studies, while ensuring rigor and reproducibility, thereby accelerating our goal of elucidating disease mechanisms and discovering breakthrough therapies.”

“With this new platform, Duncan NRI investigators can conduct more powerful, large-scale longitudinal studies of diverse neural stem cell models, which will allow us to probe the structure and function of diverse brain cells in healthy and disease states,” said Dr. Joshua Shulman, Co-director of Duncan NRI, Director of the Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases, and Professor at Baylor College of Medicine. “We will be able to create ‘precision models’ from individuals affected by brain disorders that will help us better understand disease pathogenesis and develop more targeted effective therapies. Our partnership with Automata thus represents a leap forward in our commitment to making a tangible difference to patients and families impacted by neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders.”

Partnership with Automata
Automata, renowned for its expertise in life science automation, has collaborated closely with Duncan NRI to ensure the seamless integration of LINQ into the institute’s existing research framework. “We are proud to support Duncan NRI in their mission to enhance and accelerate research in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders,” said Richard Grochmal, Head of US Growth at Automata. “This partnership signifies our unwavering commitment to improving the lives of patients. By deploying the LINQ platform at Duncan’s NRI, scientists can focus on the science by easily leveraging AI-ready research data in their quest for precision therapies.”

About Duncan Neurological Research Institute
Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine opened the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) in 2010. Focusing on strengths in genetics, neuroscience and pediatrics, the Duncan NRI is designed to foster a multidisciplinary, collaborative environment that will facilitate fundamental discoveries in neuroscience with the ultimate goal of translating them to therapies for many incurable neurological and neurodegenerative conditions.

Currently, the Duncan NRI is home to 34 Principal Investigators, more than 400+ scientists and 10 Core labs. It also houses the Gordon and Mary Cain Pediatric Neurology Research Foundation Laboratories, which is focused on epilepsy research and Baylor College’s Center for Drug Discovery.

About Automata Technologies
Automata’s mission is to enable labs in the life sciences industry to scale output and improve the quality of their experimental data by liberating scientists from time-consuming and error-prone manual tasks. Automata partners with life science companies across the globe to automate their workflows from end-to-end via our lab automation platform; LINQ.

Automata is trusted by customers including the NHS, Health Services Laboratory, AstraZeneca, Lonza and others. It supports advancements across healthcare genomics, CROs/CDMOs, pharma, biotech and academic institutes.