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[09:00] IMBB - ICS Open Lecture
- Description:
- Paramet Summer School - Computational Sciences in Drug Discovery
Conor CAFFREY
Associate Professor
Center for Discovery and Innovation in Parasitic Diseases
Department of Pathology, University of California San Francisco
Title: "Helminthic diseases: strategies and technologies for drug discovery".
Thursday, July 3rd 2014 @ 09:00 (please note that the lecture starts exactly at 09:00)
Seminar Room 1, FORTH's bldg
Information: Inga Siden-Kiamos (inga@imbb.forth.gr), Ioannis Tsamardinos (tsamard@ics.forth.gr)
Abstract:
Focusing on parasitic helminths, I will briefly review some of the projects our center is engaged in regarding drug target discovery and validation, and small molecule development. I’ll describe a number of the tools at our disposal ranging from the fundamental (yet, non-trivial) RNA interference to more technology-driven platforms such as high throughput and high-content screening. I’ll emphasize how strategic engagement by the pharmaceutical industry, including access to either privileged or public small molecule libraries, can accelerate small molecule development for this and other helmintic diseases. An example of employing C. elegans as a functional screening tool for schistosome drug discovery is presented and this approach bodes well for future drug discovery efforts. Throughout, I’ll discuss the cross-disciplinary and interactive nature of our work and how this has been a key driving force for our research.
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Short Bio:
Dr. Conor Caffrey is an Associate Adjunct Professor at the Department of Pathology at the School of Medicine, UCSF and a Senior Scientist at the Center for Discovery and Innovation in Parasitic Diseases (CDIPD), UCSF. He received his Ph.D. in Mol. & Biochemical Parasitology from the University College Dublin, Ireland.
A 20-year research track record reflects his strong interests in the basic (molecular, cell and chemical) and applied (diagnostics and drug development) biology of the tropical parasitic diseases, in particular, schistosomiasis, hookworm disease, African trypanosomiasis, and lately, cryptosporidiosis. Three broad themes underpin his research; (1) the identification and validation of protein targets (e.g., proteases and kinases) for potential drug development, (2) the pre-clinical and translational development of drugs, including the development and application of associated technologies (e.g., high-content and high-throughput screening platforms, RNA interference, C. elegans as a surrogate for screening anti-parasitics, protein expression, animal models of infection), and (3) development of point-of care (POC) diagnostics.
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July 2014
