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2020 Warren RFA Announcement 

The Warren Family Center for Drug Discovery & Development (WFCDD) is a state-of-the-art resource for drug discovery researchers who have interest in the development of molecular probes, drugs, chemical tools, biological screens, or metabolomic assessments to study neurological and central nervous system disorders, infectious disease, cancer, rare diseases, or other issues of human health. Our Mission is to serve as a bridge that enables multidisciplinary collaborations and cross-institutional connections between researchers at the University of Notre Dame, as well as external partners, other academic institutions, and the pharmaceutical industry.

The Chemical Synthesis & Drug Discovery Facility supports translational biomedical research by providing expertise to enable the preparation of small molecules for use in hit validation, lead compound development, and midsize scale-up. In addition, the core supports the preparation of biological probes (affinity, fluorescence labeled, etc.), active pharmaceutical agents as experimental controls, and small chemical libraries for the establishment of preliminary structure-activity relationships and optimized pharmacological properties. 

The Biological Screening and Assay Development Facility supports a broad range of pre-clinical drug screening and assay development platforms. It is capable of screening libraries of compounds for general and specific ADME-T needs; including liver microsome and plasma stability, plasma protein binding, blood brain barrier permeability, liver toxicity, hERG interaction, mutagenicity, bioenergetics (Seahorse), ligand-protein interactions (Monolith) and others. It also specializes in assay development, including the miniaturization, creation, or high-throughput adaptation of existing or novel assays to meet research needs. Using an automated liquid handling system, we can screen the Warren Center’s compound library in an assay of your choice to aid in hit identification or validation. The facility can also produce and purify recombinant proteins for biochemical and biophysical analyses. In addition, consultation is available to design, process, or analyze pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies for in vivo models.

Opportunities also exist to support collaborative efforts between the Computer-Aided Molecular Design Core Facility as well, which aims to provide a wide range of computational assistance from in silico screening to advanced computational analysis.

Funding:

The Center is looking to expand its interactions and collaborations on campus by providing resources (~$25,000) available within the core to support new and existing collaborations that utilize the core’s strength and expertise. No more than 3 applications will be funded during this period.

Deadline: RFA closes January 15, 2021 (5pm EST).

Award notification: February 1, 2021.

Application Guidelines:

Applicants should include a succinct 2-page proposal that succinctly describes the proposed work, the significance and impact of such studies, as well as a plan to pursue externally funded grants (also include an NIH Biosketch). 

Drug Discovery and Development

Hit-to-Lead Optimization

Molecular Probe Development

Chemical Synthesis/Medicinal Chemistry

Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacodynamics

High-throughput Assay Development

Drug Metabolism/Stability/Toxicity

Rational Drug Design

Computational Analysis

In-silico screening

 

Please submit an electronic application in PDF format to:

Warren Center Coordinator (wrcadmin@nd.edu) no later than January 15, 2021.

 

Nominations Open for 8th Annual Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine

Harrington Discovery Institute and the ASCI collaborate to recognize an outstanding achievement of a physician-scientist globally

National and international nominations are being sought for the 2021 Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine, which honors a physician-scientist who has moved science forward with achievements notable for innovation, creativity and the potential for clinical application.

The deadline for nominations is September 18, 2020.

Nomination guidelines can be found at: HarringtonDiscovery.org/ThePrize.

The Harrington Prize, which carries a $20,000 honorarium, is a collaboration between the Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio—part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development and the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), one of the nation’s oldest and most respected medical honor societies. The Harrington Discovery Institute is a nonprofit institute dedicated to supporting physician-scientists, and all scientists in areas of unmet therapeutic need, in their work to transform discoveries into medicines for the benefit of society.

Both organizations recognize the challenges associated with turning discoveries into medicines, and they are eager to highlight those who have navigated the path successfully or whose work has led to novel treatments.

A committee composed of members of the Harrington Discovery Institute Scientific Advisory Board and the ASCI Council will review the nominations and select the awardee. In addition to the honorarium, the 2021 recipient will deliver the Harrington Prize Lecture at the 2021 Joint Meeting of the Association of American Physicians (AAP), the ASCI, and the American Physician Scientists Association (APSA); will lecture at the 2021 Harrington Discovery Institute Symposium; and will publish a personal essay in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Previous award winners are: Stuart H. Orkin, MD, Harvard Medical School, for his contributions to red blood cell biology (2020); Carl H. June, MD, University of Pennsylvania, for advancing the clinical application of CAR T therapy for cancer treatment, and for his sustained contributions to the field of cellular immunology (2019); Helen H. Hobbs, MD, UT Southwestern Medical Center, for her discovery of the link between a gene mutation (PCSK9) and lower levels of LDL, which has improved the treatment of high cholesterol (2018); Jointly awarded to Daniel J. Drucker, MD, Mount Sinai Hospital, Canada, Joel F. Habener, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Jens J. Holst, MD, DMSc, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, for their discovery of incretin hormones and for the translation of these findings into transformative therapies for major metabolic diseases such as diabetes (2017); Jeffrey M. Friedman, MD, PhD, The Rockefeller University, for his discovery of leptin, which controls feeding behavior and is used to treat related clinical disorders (2016); Douglas R. Lowy, MD, The National Cancer Institute, for his discoveries that led to the development of the Human Papillomavirus vaccine to prevent cervical cancer (2015); Harry Dietz, III, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, for his contributions to the understanding of the biology and treatment of Marfan syndrome, a disorder leading to deadly aneurysms in children and adults (2014).

For questions or more information about the nomination requirements, visit HarringtonDiscovery.org/ThePrize or contact Bronwyn Monroe, Harrington Discovery Institute Program Director, at Bronwyn.Monroe@HarringtonDiscovery.org.

About Harrington Discovery Institute

The Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals in Cleveland, OH—part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development—aims to advance medicine and society by enabling our nation’s most inventive scientists to turn their discoveries into medicines that improve human health. The institute was created in 2012 with a $50 million founding gift from the Harrington family and instantiates the commitment they share with University Hospitals to a Vision for a ‘Better World.’

About The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development

The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development (The Harrington Project), founded in February 2012 by the Harrington Family and University Hospitals of Cleveland, is a $300 million national initiative built to bridge the translational ‘valley of death.’ It includes the Harrington Discovery Institute and BioMotiv, a for-profit, mission-aligned drug development company that accelerates early discovery into pharma pipelines.

For more information about The Harrington Project and the Harrington Discovery Institute, visit: HarringtonDiscovery.org.

About The American Society for Clinical Investigation

Founded in 1908, the American Society for Clinical Investigation is one of the oldest and most esteemed nonprofit honor societies of physician-scientists. Membership is by election only, and only researchers who are 50 years of age or younger are eligible for nomination to the Society. Therefore, membership in the ASCI is a recognition of a researcher’s significant contributions, at a relatively young age, to the understanding of human disease. The Society counts among its ranks more than 3,000 members, many of whom are leaders in academic medicine and industry. Many members have been recognized by election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. National Academy of Medicine. The ASCI is also proud to have among its membership winners of the Nobel Prize and the Lasker Award. The ASCI convenes an annual meeting with the Association of American Physicians, and the Society self-publishes the prestigious Journal of Clinical Investigation (founded 1924), and JCI Insight (founded 2016).

About University Hospitals

Founded in 1866, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of 18 hospitals, more than 50 health centers and outpatient facilities, and 200 physician offices in 16 counties throughout northern Ohio. The system’s flagship academic medical center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, located in Cleveland’s University Circle, is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The main campus also includes University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the nation; University Hospitals MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute, a high-volume national referral center for complex cardiovascular procedures; and University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. UH is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research programs in the nation, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopedics, radiology, neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, digestive health, transplantation and urology. UH Cleveland Medical Center is perennially among the highest performers in national ranking surveys, including “America’s Best Hospitals” from U.S. News & World Report. UH is also home to Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals – part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development. UH is one of the largest employers in Northeast Ohio with 28,000 physicians and employees.

Advancing the Science of Health and the Art of Compassion is UH’s vision for benefitting its patients into the future, and the organization’s unwavering mission is To Heal. To Teach. To Discover. Follow UH on LinkedIn, Facebook @UniversityHospitals and Twitter @UHhospitals. For more information, visit UHhospitals.org.

 

New grant program seeks to advance therapies for rare diseases

The Harrington Discovery Institute® at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, and its registered UK charity Fund for Cures UK, Ltd. (Fund for Cures UK) have issued a call for proposals for the 2020 Harrington UK Rare Disease Scholar Award, a new program to advance promising research into novel treatments for rare diseases. In addition to grant funding, Harrington Discovery Institute provides guidance and oversight in all aspects of drug development, while taking no rights to intellectual property, which is retained by the scholar and their institution.

“Since its founding in 2012, Harrington Discovery Institute has been dedicated to accelerating the development of new medicines that would otherwise not reach patients in need. Our drug development model has been embraced by more than 50 U.S. academic institutions, and we are pleased to expand into the U.K. through this rare disease initiative,” said Jonathan S. Stamler, MD, President, Harrington Discovery Institute and Robert S. and Sylvia K. Reitman Family Foundation Distinguished Chair of Cardiovascular Innovation at University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

“Advances in science make treatment for rare diseases a new reality. The depth of knowledge and creativity that exists across U.K.’s academic institutions is tremendous, and we are hopeful that this award will create a vital new pathway for innovative physicians and scientists to progress their projects towards the clinic,” said Sir John Banham, member, Board of Trustees, Fund for Cures UK.

“This is a terrific opportunity for universities throughout the U.K. to leverage a proven approach for drug development and advance those discoveries that have the potential to change the rare disease landscape,” said Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine, University of Oxford, and U.K. Life Sciences Industrial Strategy Lead for U.K. government.

Applicants have the opportunity to receive:

  • £100K guaranteed, with the potential to qualify for an additional £400K (a total of £500K).
  • Discovery and development support from a team of Harrington Discovery Institute industry leaders with significant experience bringing drugs to market.

Award criteria:

  • Any disease or disorder affecting fewer than 5 in 10,000 people will be considered, including ultra-rare diseases and rare variants of more common diseases.
  • Of particular interest are discoveries that have a proven genetic basis, are applicable to multiple rare diseases, and/or impact common diseases.
  • Award is open to academic investigators at accredited medical centers, research institutions and universities in the United Kingdom.
  • Lead investigator must have an MD or PhD or equivalent.
  • The project can involve any therapeutic modality.

Please note the following dates:

  • Full applications are due by 10:00 PM (GMT) on 2 March, 2020.
  • Award recipients will be notified and announced July, 2020.


Harrington Discovery Institute
The Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals in Cleveland, OH—part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development—aims to advance medicine and society by enabling our nation’s most inventive scientists to turn their discoveries into medicines that improve human health. The institute was created in 2012 with a $50 million founding gift from the Harrington family and instantiates the commitment they share with University Hospitals to a Vision for a ‘Better World’. For more information, visit: HarringtonDiscovery.org.

Fund for Cures UK, Ltd.
University Hospitals Health System, Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio, USA established Fund for Cures UK, Ltd. (Fund for Cures UK) to make grants and establish affiliations or centers of excellence to advance scientific discoveries into medicines. Fund for Cures UK will operate in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, in proximity to UK researchers and benefit from complementary local knowledge, background and expertise to more effectively translate UK discoveries into medicines for unmet needs. Fund for Cures UK will make charitable grants to leading universities, medical schools, research institutes, and other charitable and scientific institutions. As with the U.S. programs, the company’s grants will be entirely charitable and the company will obtain no rights or intellectual property that may be generated through the grant-funded research. For more information, visit: FundforCures.org.uk.

 

 

WFCDD Request for Applications- NOW OPEN 

The Warren Center for Drug Discovery invites new proposals for pilot projects that are associated with drug discovery. In particular, projects associated with small molecule synthesis (libraries or molecular probes), hit validation, lead optimization, mid-sized scale up, assay development, protein purification, and ADMET screening.  Any disease areas will be considered. Collaborative opportunities exist for the preparation of small molecules and/or computational-derived drug discovery via three cores: Chemical Synthesis& Drug Discovery, Computer-Aided Molecular Design, or Biological Screening and Development core.

 

Funding:

The Center is looking to expand its interactions and collaborations on campus by providing resources (<$25,000) available within the core to support new and existing collaborations that utilize the core’s strength and expertise. No more than 3 applications will be funded during this initial period.

 

Deadline for submission: November 15, 2019 (5pm EDT)

Award Notification: December 1, 2019.

See the Full RFA Announcement Here: Warren RFA 2019

Applications should be submitted as .PDF files via email to wrcadmin@nd.edu