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Cancer Drug Discovery
The University of South Carolina (collaborative partner) About the CoEE: This CoEE provides mechanisms for target identification and generation of lead compounds in the drug discovery process, thus creating a productive interface (currently lacking in the field) between academics and the biotechnology/pharmaceutical industries. This CoEE also develops research in structural biology for target analysis, chemical biology for designing drug candidates, and advanced biomedical screening technologies. The CoEE’s success is built upon the expertise and resources of its endowed chairs. One of these, Dr. Charles Smith, has formed a drug screening core that contains chemical libraries with 50,000 compounds. Using this screening core, Dr. Smith and another colleague identified compounds which inhibit PIM kinases enzymes which are over-expressed in cancer. An article about this discovery was published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, and Dr. Smith launched Vortex Biotechnology Corporation in FY 2009 to create marketable PIM protein kinase inhibitors to treat cancer. In 2009, another start-up company, SchnellGen, developed out of the work of the CoEE. Its mission is to develop novel therapeutics for the treatment of acute organ failure and wound healing. CoEE chair-holder Dr. John Lemasters is an expert in the advanced cellular technology of multiphoton confocal microscopy. His current projects center on the role of mitochondria in cell injury in cancer, heart, and liver cells. During 2009, the CoEE received more than $2.9 million in federal funding, while its overall total since inception is $9.6 million in federal research funding. Funding level: CoEE endowed chairs:
CoEE Endowed Chairs Drs. Charles Smith, left, and Ken Tew (of the Translational Cancer Therapeutics CoEE) demonstrate robotic high-throughput drug screening instrumentation.
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