# Extreme High Throughput Screening Via Massively Parallel Droplet Dispenser Arrays

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · 2021 · $288,820

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 This project seeks to make drug discovery more effective by making the screening technology more
accessible. Currently, new drug leads are discovered by testing a large number of unknown chemicals
to see if any have the effect that you are looking for. Since this process is somewhat slow and
expensive, such testing is not as thorough and widespread as it should be. We are trying to allow the
chemical reactions to be run in microscopic droplets of liquid, which would greatly lower the cost of
these reactions and make it possible to run many more together at once.
 To accomplish this, we are building a new device, a gigantic array of droplet dispensers. The array
is envisioned to be large enough to hold the entire set of unknown chemicals that you are interested in
testing. The array is very flexible. It can quickly dispense the entire set of chemicals, dispense many
different concentrations of each chemical so that we can find the most effective dose, or dispense the
chemicals in a variety of different combinations so that we can discover which drugs work well together.
 In order to make this array of dispensers work, we are using a new type of microchip technology
where the circuits carry liquids instead of electrons. What is unique about our liquid circuits is that they
can perform computations much like a computer can. This ends up being very useful for this project
because we use this computational power to control the large array of dispensers.
 Once we build the droplet dispensers, we will test them out in various types of common screening
experiments. We will try testing a library of chemicals against an enzyme that thought to be important in
the spread of cancer. As part of this testing, we will try the variation where we try many different
concentrations of each chemical, to find the dosage at which they start to become effective. Also, we
will develop another system so that we can test our unknown chemicals directly on colon cancer cells,
to see if any chemicals will kill the cells or slow down their growth. During these tests, we will take
advantage of the device's ability to make different combinations of chemicals and drugs. Often, cancer
cells need to be hit with multiple drugs in order to have a positive effect. Testing different drug
combinations on these cancer cells will help us to discover new ways to combine drugs effectively.
 This work is less about the drug testing itself, but rather it's more about developing new ways to test
possible drugs. Once we can show that our methods work, we can share our methods and hopefully
help others discover new cures more quickly.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10234091
- **Project number:** 5R01GM134418-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Elliot E Hui
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $288,820
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-23 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10234091

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10234091, Extreme High Throughput Screening Via Massively Parallel Droplet Dispenser Arrays (5R01GM134418-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10234091. Licensed CC0.

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