PEPTHERA

Inauguration of the In Vitro Screening Platform

On June 25th, 2026, the High-throughput In Vitro Screening Platform for Drug Development was inaugurated at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University.

The newly established automated platform represents an important research infrastructure for high-throughput in vitro testing and drug development. It enables the efficient screening of large numbers of samples under standardized and reproducible conditions.

The platform will also be used within the project to support screening activities and related experimental research.

Media coverage: news.ubbcluj.ro

Training

András-Ernő Iszlai participated in a one-week practical training on the Tecan Freedom EVO liquid handling system.

During the training, he learned how to assemble and configure the system, install and position its different components, program automated workflows, and perform routine maintenance. The training provided hands-on experience with the operation and practical use of the robotic platform in laboratory workflows.

Conference

András-Ernő Iszlai participated in the 7th Multi-step Enzyme Catalyzed Processes Congress (MecP2026), held at Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy, between March 29 and April 1, 2026.

He presented the poster entitled “Multi-enzymatic cascade for the synthesis of D-phenylalanine derivatives”, which was awarded the Best Poster Prize at the conference.

Conference webpage: www.mecp2026.eu

Kick-off meeting

The project leader of our group, Csaba, participated at the kick-off meeting held at the HUN-REN TTK consortium partner (Budapest), with fruitful scientific sessions with the group of Prof. Keseru and Prof. Heinis!

Member

Welcome Monika! Monika Thakur joins our group and project as postdoctoral researcher, focusing on the YejM-LapB bacterial PPI and related screening assays. We look forward to working together, exchanging ideas, and achieving exciting results throughout the project.

Members

Welcome to the project at the UBB site two freshly enrolled Ph.D students Andras Iszlai Erno and Naomi Bondila, who will work with 100% focus on the MAPS project. Good luck with your experiments