The "HT/HC Screening" unit (referred to as "Screening" for short) is part of the "Core Facilities" organizational unit at the Medical University of Vienna and will relocate (expected to begin in April 2027) to the Center for Translational Medicine. The facility provides state-of-the-art infrastructure and expertise for high-throughput (HTS) and high-content screening (HCS), automated assay development, molecular pharmacology, and translational drug discovery.
Established to bridge fundamental research and therapeutic innovation, the facility combines advanced automation and cellular screening technologies within a single integrated environment. Screening campaigns can be performed in 96-, 384-, and 1536-well formats using a highly automated platform equipped with liquid handling robotics, acoustic dispensing, multimode plate readers, high-content imaging systems, and flow cytometry instrumentation. This enables researchers to progress from target identification and assay development to hit discovery, validation, and mechanistic characterization.
As part of the Center for Translational Medicine, the screening unit benefits from close interactions with clinical departments, biobanking infrastructures, patient-oriented research programs, and other core facilities, facilitating the translation of biological discoveries into therapeutic opportunities. The facility is open to researchers from the Medical University of Vienna, national and international academic institutions, research organizations, biotechnology companies, and pharmaceutical industry partners.
Applications
The unit Screening supports applications across biomedical research and drug discovery, including target validation, ligand discovery, molecular pharmacology, functional genomics, and phenotypic screening. Assays can be developed for receptors, ion channels, transporters, enzymes, and intracellular signaling pathways using recombinant systems, established cell lines, primary cells, organoids, and patient-derived models.
Applications range from receptor pharmacology, deorphanization, and mechanism-of-action studies to phenotypic drug discovery and translational research. The facility further supports CRISPR/Cas9-based functional screenings and provides access to assay-ready small-molecule libraries, custom peptide libraries, natural product collections, and specialized workflows for primary and patient-derived cells. Through close interactions with other core facilities, screening projects can be integrated with genomics/transcriptomics, proteomics, and flow cytometry workflows.
Collaboration and Service Models
The screening unit operates as a service-oriented core facility and provides screening, assay development, and pharmacological profiling services for academic, clinical, and external users. The facility team offers scientific consultation on assay selection, experimental design, screening strategies, data interpretation, and follow-up studies, and supports projects from initial concept to data generation and validation.
Available service models include:
- Assay measurements and plate-based screening campaigns (pay-per-plate)
- Receptor profiling and GPCR panel screening services
- High-content imaging and phenotypic screening
- Functional genomics screening (CRISPR/Cas9)
- Customized peptide synthesis and peptide library development
- Annual service agreements and subscription models for regular users
- Contract research and collaborative research programs
The facility actively participates in national and international research collaborations and can support grant applications through dedicated service agreements and customized project planning. In addition, it serves as a training platform offering hands-on training, workshops, and mentoring in assay development, screening technologies, molecular pharmacology, high-content imaging, flow cytometry, and data analysis for students, postdoctoral researchers, technical staff, and visiting scientists.
