Webinar
From Target Discovery to Toxicology
Combining Cell Painting and Transcriptomics Across the Drug Discovery Workflow
About the webinar
How can phenotypic imaging and transcriptomics provide complementary insights across the drug discovery workflow?
In this webinar, Axxam and Alithea Genomics will explore a practical approach combining Cell Painting and transcriptomic profiling, from early target discovery to preclinical safety assessment.
Through real-world case studies, including CRISPR-based target validation and toxicology applications, our speakers will show how scalable phenotypic screening and deep molecular characterization can work together to generate high-quality, actionable data.
The webinar will also provide practical insights into experimental design, data generation strategies, and the value of integrating complementary technologies to support informed decision-making across multiple stages of drug discovery.
Keywords
Phenotypic screening, phenotypic imaging, transcriptomic profiling, drug discovery, target discovery, target validation, CRISPR screening, CRISPR target validation, preclinical safety assessment, toxicology screening, high-content imaging, molecular profiling, drug discovery workflow, phenotypic profiling, transcriptomics in drug discovery.
Meet the speakers
Riccardo Dainese – CBO and co-founder, Alithea Genomics
Roberto Ravasio – Principal Scientist, Axxam
Riccardo Dainese is the CBO and co-founder of Alithea Genomics.
Before that, he completed his PhD in Bioengineering and Microfluidics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in the Laboratory of Systems Biology and Genetics run by Prof. Bart Deplancke.
During his PhD Riccardo has worked on and co-developed a number of microvalve-based and droplet-based microfluidic devices with genomic applications, such as Smile-seq, FloChIP, DisCO all of which have been patented separately and published in top-tier journals such as Nature Methods and PNAS.
Before his PhD, Riccardo obtained a Master’s degree in Nanotechnology at Chalmers University (Goteborg, Sweden) and a Bachelor’s in Biomedical Engineering at the Politecnico di Torino (Italy).
Roberto Ravasio is Principal Scientist in the Advanced Cellular Assay group at Axxam, where he leads multidisciplinary drug discovery projects for biotech and pharmaceutical partners. His expertise spans cell and molecular biology, functional genomics, molecular assay development, and phenotypic and omics-based profiling, with a particular focus on Cell Painting and transcriptomics. By integrating complementary technologies and multidimensional datasets, his work supports target discovery and validation, compound profiling, and in vitro preclinical safety assessment, translating complex biological readouts into actionable insights across the drug discovery workflow.
Roberto obtained his BSc and MSc from the University of Milan and completed his PhD and postdoctoral research at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, where he focused on functional genomics and omics approaches for drug discovery and translational research.