WWARN launches new in-vitro analysis tool
The In Vitro Analysis and Reporting Tool (IVART) is now available for beta-testing on the WWARN website. This new software, easily accessible and free, can quickly analyse large sets of in vitro malaria drug sensitivity data and generate reproducible IC50 estimates, through an automated, standardised process.
Investigators can upload, curate, and analyse their data at the IVART Online site or they may share raw data, allowing WWARN staff to process it using IVART. Once data is uploaded, the software generates a downloadable report.
In addition to saving laboratory investigators considerable time, IVART will enable comparisons of results across different laboratories, allowing researchers to answer questions about the variability of drug sensitivity and how different assay systems behave with different drugs.
‘‘IVART illustrates the potential for WWARN to facilitate collaboration and generate improved tools for the study of antimalarial resistance. The process of developing IVART with our collaborating labs produced, perhaps, the most comprehensive database of in vitro antimalarial data yet assembled,” said Charlie Woodrow, the In Vitro Scientific Advisor. “We hope that this can support further developments in the design and analysis of in vitro studies.”
To learn more about WWARN, its In Vitro Scientific Group, and the IVART tool, please visit the WWARN In Vitro website or contact Sabina Dahlström, the In Vitro Scientific Coordinator, to sign up to the beta testing programme.