CCTS Drug Discovery Pilot Program

The CCTS Drug Discovery Pilot Program is advancing academic drug discovery.

The CCTS Drug Discovery program has partnered with Southern Research, a not-for-profit affiliate which has a very productive, internationally-recognized track record in drug discovery and development. Southern Research has in-house facilities capable of high-throughput drug screening; medicinal chemistry and structure analysis; and lead optimization through iterative chemistry, preclinical toxicology and absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) studies.

Recognizing that new compounds require significant investment to become licensed therapeutics, the Component has a mechanism by which both private investment and the pharmaceutical industry can participate in the academic drug discovery process. Engaging these groups ensures that: 1) the CCTS focuses on developing the most promising agents, 2) it selects targets of interest to groups willing to invest, 3) the targets have been approved by an interdisciplinary panel using stringent selection criteria, 4) there is downstream investment of capital, and 5) the knowledge gained will be plowed back into basic research programs.

For additional information about the CCTS Drug Discovery Program or the Alabama Drug Discovery Alliance, please contact Maaike Everts.

Pilot Grants in Drug Discovery and Development

The CCTS and the Alabama Drug Discovery Alliance (ADDA) request applications for Pilot Grants in Drug Discovery and Development on an annual basis, in the Spring.

Applicants may apply for $50,000 in direct costs per year for up to 2 years, with funding of Year 2 dependent on progress made in Year 1. Funds can be utilized for any aspect of drug discovery and development for any human disease, including - but not limited to - target validation, assay development for high-throughput screening, molecular modeling and medicinal chemistry efforts, or proof of concept studies in animals.

Click here for a list of recipients.

Alabama Drug Discovery Alliance

The partnership between the CCTS Drug Discovery Component and Southern Research was instrumental in solidifying the establishment of the ADDA in October 2008. The ADDA is enhanced by relationships with the CCTS, Southern Research, the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center and the UAB School of Medicine. The ADDA facilitates drug discovery/ development, using the resources of these groups - including molecular target identification, high throughput screening, three dimensional structure of targets, iterative medicinal chemistry advanced with in silico screening, preclinical toxicology, and ADME.

The UAB CCTS is supported through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program, grant UL1 TR000165.The CTSA program is led by the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). The content of this website is solely the responsibility of UAB and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.