Reflections from an Industry R&D Lab: Supporting Research Through an Interdisciplinary and Multi-Omics Approach

Reflecting on recent conferences, including the 2025 AACR Annual Meeting, it’s hard not to be blown away by the capability and humanity behind the scientific community. Our R&D lab continues to be inspired by the strong collaborative spirit we saw from a diverse interdisciplinary community discussing current topics in cancer, immuno-oncology, and so much more. The exhibit halls buzzed with presentations on mechanisms of action and conversations around advances in technologies supporting spatial, single-molecule, and the -omics analyses. Across the posters and workshops, one thing stood out: almost every dataset, protocol, or clinical insight was the product of collaboration between institutions or industry partners.

Reprogramming the tumor microenvironment

The conference showcased a wide range of topics, but I was especially drawn to sessions on immunotherapies targeting the tumor microenvironment. Many labs are now leveraging a multi-omics approach, layering data for a comprehensive approach for disease and therapeutic research after or in conjunction with the classic target ID and preclinical work up. The reprogramming of the microenvironment and local immune cells was a mode of action highlighted by several new potential therapies presented by pharma and biotech groups, many of which are entering or progressing through early clinical phases. 

Combinatorial therapies and companion diagnostics also seem to be moving from concept to practice, bolstered by a powerful trifecta: advances in lab technologies, clearer implementation pathways, and clinical lab readiness to deliver insights tied to specific phenotypes and genotypes.

From “n=1” to systemic strategy

The “n=1” concept—central to early AGBT Precision Health conferences—continues to guide research focused on individualized care. This inevitably brings broader considerations into focus, such as how screening, diagnostics, trial phases, and clinical operations affect principal investigators, clinical research labs, and funding sponsors. Similarly, categorizing diseases as “rare” or “common” doesn’t capture the complexity of study design, especially when comparing single-site and multi-site trials. These considerations underscore the importance of early lab-to-lab alignment on establishing protocols and access to automation-amenable processes that support robust pre-assay sample preparation. As we say in our lab, a sample prep snafu can make or break discoveries. This is especially true for preclinical and clinical biospecimens that could meaningfully inform research and affect patient outcomes as evidenced using an interdisciplinary lens for insight into human health.

The case for scalable sample prep

Whether at the bench or managing lab operations, our team continues to prioritize scalable, analyte-agnostic sample prep solutions that support challenging sample types, especially within clinical lab applications. Just as precision medicine accounts for biological variability, real-time differences can arise even among "equivalent" complex samples processed in different NGS labs. As point-of-care testing evolves, clinical lab preparedness will affect its implementation. Standardization remains a measurable and high priority for achieving analytical reproducibility. Effectively managing early-stage prep and maintaining chain-of-custody visibility for limited samples are essential to generating high-impact insights.

Raising the bar on prep workflows

Despite decades of technological advances, scientific integrity in preanalytical workflows cannot continue to solely rely on “good enough.” Harmonizing upstream process will free up time when troubleshooting or onboarding new technologies that require analytical precision and high-quality data analysis to delivery actionable insights.

This summer, our team has been busy following ASM Microbe 2025, energized by conversations with labs. As a microbiologist by training, I was thrilled to hear about emerging work in microbiome profiling and metagenomics that held promise for advancing potential therapeutic applications. The systemic and local effects of the microbiome, a topic that was also of growing interest at AACR, is one we’ll continue exploring through a multi-omics, interdisciplinary lens beyond this year's ASM Microbe meeting. Since I moved into managing an industry R&D lab, it’s rewarding to see how lab technologies we’ve developed in-house are helping to support researchers across many disciplines and fields.