As medical researchers develop new assays that can lead to the emergence of breakthrough medicines, they must be able to swiftly access and use the compounds needed for development. Compounds Australia, located at Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery (GRIDD), is the premier compound management facility in the Southern Hemisphere. The facility presently provides complete compound management for a national compound collection of >670,000 compounds. All compounds are stored under rigorous conditions to maintain compound integrity. Compounds Australia prepares >6,000 assay-ready microplates each year with precision, accuracy and full data tracking and routinely coordinates the transport of microplates to national and worldwide destinations. Also, the Compounds Australia Structure Portal (CASPeR), launched in 2016, enables researchers to browse or search the ‘Open’ Compound Collections via a web portal for access of up-to-date information including individual chemical properties. The academic compounds are made openly available to research members worldwide, offering a unique chemically diverse collection that is not commercially available.

This short seminar will provide a few snapshots of “how” Compounds Australia can assist researchers within ANU and provide a short tutorial on CASPeR; Compounds Australia Stucture PoRtal.

Moana Simpson

Ms Moana Simpson is the Manager of Compounds Australia, and has over 18 years’ experience in providing support for drug discovery research within Australia and the UK, both in academia and in the pharmaceutical industry. Ms Simpson was instrumental in the initial development and subsequent growth of Compounds Australia from its inception to now a fully operational and busy compound management facility.  She has an invaluable combination of skills to contribute to specialist compound management; including high end laboratory automation, high throughput screening and a thorough knowledge of drug discovery principles and practices. Ms Simpson holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours and a Graduate Diploma in Project Management; her expertise is primarily in the areas of chemistry and biochemistry.