The cost of an HTS experiment is substantial. For approved projects, the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center and UT Southwestern Medical Center provide considerable support for screening projects by underwriting fixed costs in the HTS Core (e.g., salaries, infrastructure, equipment, etc.). This makes high-throughput screening affordable for young investigators as well as established researchers in the Simmons Cancer Center and the University at large. Principal investigators are responsible for the cost of screening supplies, subsidized fees that cover infrastructure and personnel, and a scientist from their lab who will be dedicated to the project.
For HTS projects with a focus on cancer, the Simmons Cancer Center will cover 20 percent of the screening supplies costs for small screens (e.g., 8,000-compound pilot screens, miRNA screens, etc.) and 50 percent of larger screens (full-library compound screens and genome-wide RNAi screens). Approval for Cancer Center funds for small screens is obtained through Bruce Posner, Ph.D., the Core Director. For larger screens, the HTS Oversight Committee decides whether Cancer Center funding can be awarded. The maximum financial award for a large screen is $12,500.