Hello, r/Science! I am Albert Li, President and CEO of In Vitro ADMET Laboratories (IVAL), located in Columbia, MD and Malden, MA. For the past three decades, I have devoted my scientific career to the improvement and application of human-based in vitro experimental systems (experiments done outside of a living body) in the development of pharmaceuticals. In 2004, I founded IVAL, an organization dedicated to creating innovative approaches to the evaluation of human drug properties. We strive to develop products and preclinical applications that help scientists study how the body processes a compound, how that compound interacts with others already in the body, and predict any potential harm that the compound may cause. This improves the drug discovery process, allowing for more accurate prediction of drug safety and efficacy in the early phases of drug research and ensuring that only the safest and most promising candidates move on to clinical trials. One achievement in this effort is the Integrated discrete Multiple Organ Co-Culture experimental tool (IdMOC). This testing plate consists of multiple wells that can be seeded with cells from different organs. These wells are then connected by an overlying medium, which allows for well-to-well communication, mimicking the way organs communicate within the body. Researchers can then apply a test compound to the target cell type and assess how the compound might travel through the body and affect other organs. In addition to providing far more complete information on drug metabolism and interaction, the IdMOC can allow for the refinement, reduction, and replacement of live animal usage in drug research. This not only aides animal welfare but also creates more accurate data, since the use of human cells can provide human-specific information that cannot be obtained with laboratory animals. We also work on optimizing cryopreservation of primary human and animal cells, particularly hepatocytes, a major cell type found in the liver. Hepatocytes play an important role in metabolizing outside compounds and altering them so that they can be excreted from the body. This makes them vital to drug research and development. Cryopreservation is an ideal method for long term storage and allows researchers to have a steady supply of cells available for experimentation. We have a (newly minted) blog http://invitroadmetlabs.com/ as well as Twitter https://twitter.com/InVitroADMET and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/In-Vitro-ADMET-Laboratories-LLC-441026892766841/timeline/ . Here are links to a few of our recent papers: Evaluation of Adverse Drug Properties with Cryopreserved Human Hepatocytes and the Integrated Discrete Multiple Organ Co-culture (IdMOC) System http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26191380 (Full Text) In Vitro Heptocyte-based Experimental Systems http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24805059 (Abstract) Evaluation of Human Hepatocytes under Prolonged Culture http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25313020 (Abstract) A Novel Plated Hepatocyte Relay Assay (PHRA) for In Vitro Evaluation of Hepatic Metabolic Clearance of Slowly Metabolized Compounds http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26282592 (Epub Ahead of Print) Also with me today is IVAL researcher Yang Qian (YQ) out Social Media Coordinator, Allison Isberg (AI), who will be helping us take questions and type answers. We will be back to answer your questions at 1 pm ET (10 am PT, 5 pm UTC), Feel free to AUA about in vitro drug research and development, drug toxicology, cryopreservation of cells, biomedical entrepreneurship, or anything else you have in mind! Edit AI- Hey everyone, that’s about all we have time for today. Thank you so much for your questions; Dr. Li really enjoyed answering them! And thank you to the r/Science mods for setting this up. If you’re interested in following more of our research, please feel free to follow the Twitter or send a PM to this account. If anyone is interested in full copies of any of our papers, PM this account and we should be able to get those to you. We will check back again and answer any more questions if possible. Thanks again!