Luminex Corporation (NASDAQ: LMNX), the worldwide leader in multiplexed solutions, today announced the agenda for Planet xMAP Europe 2008, the company´s annual European multiplexing technology symposium, which will be held 8–9 October, at Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam. The two–day event will include workshops, presentations, scientific posters and networking events. The symposium is a gathering of approximately 500 scientists and researchers from around the world who are performing groundbreaking work in clinical diagnostics and life science research using Luminex´s xMAP® multiplexing technology platform.
"Planet xMAP Europe 2008 provides a forum for researchers and clinicians to come together and share ideas on how xMAP multiplexing technology is benefiting their work," said Paul C. Ladestein, Senior Director of European Operations for Luminex. "We have an exciting breadth of speakers this year who represent disciplines across basic research, drug discovery and molecular diagnostics. We look forward to seeing how they are applying Luminex´s xMAP Technology in new ways."
Day One of Planet xMAP Europe 2008, Wednesday, 8 October, will focus on clinical diagnostics applications for xMAP Technology, and will include the following presentations:
– Christine C. Ginocchio, Ph.D., Director, Microbiology, Virology and Molecular Diagnostics at North Shore - Long Island Jewish Health System Laboratories, Manhasset, USA, –– "Enhanced Detection of Respiratory Viruses in Symptomatic Adults using the Luminex xTAG TM RVP Assay"
– Kizee A. Etienne M.P.H., APHL Fellow at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Molecular Epidemiology Unit, Atlanta, USA - "A Novel Approach for Rapid Species Identification of Medically Important Fungi"
– Mark T. Esser, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow in Vaccine & Biologics Research at Merck Research Laboratories, Wayne, USA –– "Vaccines, Biomarkers and Correlates of Protection"
– Charles P. Cartwright, ViroMed (LabCorp) Laboratories, Minnetonka, USA - "Measuring Response to Pneumococcal Vaccine: Clinical Utility and Test Performance"
– Shreemanta Parida, Max Planck Institute, Berlin, Germany - "Use of xMAP® Technology in the Quest for Tuberculosis Biomarkers Discovery"
– M. Sc. Evgenija Hom?ak, Department of Laboratory Diagnosis at University Medical Centre in Maribor, Slovenia - "Determination and Evaluation of Serological Diagnostic Parameters for Celiac Disease with a new Luminex Technology and AtheNA® Celiac Test System: a Comparison with other Serological Assays"
– Christopher D. Gocke, M.D., Associate Professor of Pathology and Oncology, Director of Hematology Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, USA - "Advancements in Leukemia Testing, and How They Might Help Guide Therapeutic Decisions"
– Christina Voorter, Transplantation Immunology / Tissue Typing Laboratory at Maastricht University Medical Center – Maastricht, The Netherlands - "HLA typing by Luminex Technology for Diagnostic and Disease Association Purposes"
– C.W. Moeliker, Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam – Rotterdam, The Netherlands - "Improbable Research and the Ig Nobel Prizes"
The morning sessions will be chaired by Eric C.J. Claas of the Department of Medical Microbiology at Leiden University Medical Centre in The Netherlands. The afternoon sessions will be chaired by Christine S. Falk of the Oncology Department at the University Heidelberg.
Day Two of Planet xMAP Europe 2008, Thursday, 9 October, will focus on xMAP–based life science research applications, and will include the following presentations:
– Kerry G. Oliver, Ph.D., President of Radix Biosolutions, Georgetown, USA - "Stretching the Frontier of xMAP® Technology"
– Aravind Subramanian, Ph.D., Computational Biologist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, USA - "Development and Evaluation of RNA Expression Profiling Applications of 1000–plex Luminex xMAP® Technology"
– Jingfang Ju, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Co–Director of Translational Research Laboratory, Department of Pathology at Stony Brook University Medical Center, Stony Brook, USA –– "Integrated Approaches to Study the Impact of microRNAs in Colorectal Cancer and Osteosarcoma"
– Pat Whitcomb, President, Stat–Ease, Inc., Minneapolis, USA - "A Factorial Design Planning Process"
– Professor Kai Zacharowski, M.D., Ph.D., FRCA, Chair of Anesthesia & Critical Care – Dept. of Anesthesia at BHI University Hospitals, Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, Bristol, United Kingdom - "Doctor, Doctor my Heart!"
– Janet E. Digby, Ph.D., Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom - "Measurement of Inflammatory Markers Released from Perivascular Adipose Tissue in Patients with Atherosclerosis"
– Brian Sullivan, MS, Sr. Research Associate at Magen BioSciences, Inc., Waltham, USA - "Multiplex Cytokine Assays and Data Analysis; Managing the Torrent"
– John Kanakis, MS, Ph.D., Laboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry at the University of Patras, Patras, Greece - "Principles and Applications of xMAP® Bioanalytical Assays"
– Ali Vahedi, Ph.D., Senior Research Chemist, Aviir, Palo Alto, USA - "Luminex Assay Precision, JANUS® versus Human"
– Oliver Poetz, Biochemistry Department, NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of Tuebingen, Reutlingen, Germany –– "Touch a Sample Twice or How To Do a Multi Multiplex"
The second day will feature morning sessions chaired by Thomas Joos of the Biochemistry Department at the NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of Tuebingen. The afternoon sessions will be chaired by Jochen M. Schwenk of the Department of Proteomics at the KTH – Royal Institute of Technology at AlbaNova University Center in Stockholm.
For additional information regarding the Planet xMAP Europe 2008 symposium or to register online, please visit http://www.planetxmap.com.
Luminex will host its annual Planet xMAP USA 2009 Multiplexing Symposium on May 4–6, 2009, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Austin, Texas. For more information or to submit a poster abstract, please visit www.luminexcorp.com/planetxmap.
About Luminex Corporation
Luminex Corporation develops, manufactures and markets proprietary biological testing technologies with applications throughout the diagnostic and life sciences industries. The Company´s xMAP® multiplex solutions include an open–architecture, multi–analyte technology platform that delivers fast, accurate and cost–effective bioassay results to markets as diverse as pharmaceutical drug discovery, clinical diagnostics and biomedical research, including the genomics and proteomics markets. The Company´s xMAP technology is sold worldwide and is already in use in leading clinical laboratories as well as major pharmaceutical, diagnostic and biotechnology companies. Further information on Luminex Corporation or xMAP can be obtained at www.luminexcorp.com.
