ACQUIFER AG

Project Leader

Project Staff

Institute Presentation

The ACQUIFER AG was founded in 2012 as a joint venture of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). ACQUIFER specializes in developing services and products related to high content screening and other state of the art imaging techniques. In particular, the company focuses on the development of modular IT solutions to optimize workflows in modern life science laboratories conducting data intensive research using modern imaging techniques. Furthermore, ACQUIFER is developing novel next generation screening microscopes for cell based and whole organism screening applications. Besides product and service development, ACQUIFER is conducting own research with a focus on methodology development for zebrafish screening pipelines: assay development, laboratory automation, automated intelligent microscopy, data handling and analysis, and data crosslinking and web-based sharing and publishing. Thus, ACQUIFER has access to state-of-the-art imaging and computing equipment as well as peripheral lab equipment needed to carry out zebrafish high content screening experiments.

Team members have a track record in the development of HCS technologies, image analysis, bioinformatic data integration and the conduction of large scale screening assays. Dr Urban Liebel, CTO and co-founder, of Acquifer studied biology and electronic engineering. Previously he was heading the Accelerator lab (KIT) and the KIT screening centre and worked as a scientific officer in the EMBL Heidelberg - Mitocheck project group. Dr Jochen Gehrig studied biology and works as an Application Scientist in the R&D department of ACQUIFER. Previously, he was a postdoc at KIT with Urban Liebel working on the development and establishment of zebrafish based high-content screening assays. He graduated from the University of Birmingham, UK with a focus on transcriptional regulation and zebrafish screening assays. Within EURenOmics, the company will continue to closely collaborate with Dr Jens Westhoff working as a paediatrician at the University Hospital Heidelberg since 2004. He is conducting research on zebrafish models for nephropathies. Before completing his residency, he was a postdoc in paediatric nephrology research.