Tag: Drug Discovery

How Mosquitoes Bite: Get smart quick

Posted on June 22, 2016

Summer has arrived in Birmingham, and with it comes mosquito season. Given our research on Zika, and other mosquito-borne diseases, we would like to share some facts about how mosquitoes bite as part of our “Get Smart Quick” content series.

So, in 400 words, how do mosquitoes actually bite?

First, only female mosquitoes bite. They require the nutrients found in blood to produce eggs. Male mosquitoes feed mostly on flower nectar.

When feeding, the mosquito uses her proboscis — the long needle-like feature on her snout — to identify and extract blood from its target. However, this process is slightly more involved than most people think.

The proboscis (pro-boss-sis) is made up of six needles hidden under a protective sheath called a labium. When she bites, the labium folds backwards, exposing the six needles that make up her proboscis. These include:

A pair of maxillae, which have tiny saw-like teeth at their tips, used to pierce and cut the skin.

A pair of mandibles, inserted alongside the maxillae, used to spread the skin. The mandibles also provide leverage for digging the other needles deeper into the skin.

The Hypopharynx is a hollow needle used to secrete a saliva-like chemical that prevents blood from clotting. This saliva also causes the itchy reaction people experience, and serves as the fluid through which a female mosquito can transfer disease.

The labrum, the largest of the six needles, is a flexible straw-like feature used to explore for blood. Receptors at the tip of the labrum can detect naturally-occurring chemicals found in blood vessels, and guide the needle to its source. Like a modern oil or gas drill, the labrum can maneuver at sharp angles and explore horizontally underneath the skin surface (Check out this video captured by researchers at the Institut Pasteur in Paris). Once a vein is found, she uses the labrum to suck the blood.

While feeding, a mosquito will separate water from the blood and squeeze the water out of her rear end. This allows her to retain the greatest possible amount of nutrient-rich blood in each feeding.

The A. aegypti and A. albopictus will produce between 100-200 eggs per batch, and may lay approximately three batches in their 8-10 day lifecycle.

Eggs are often laid in, or near, standing water. However, A. aegypti eggs can survive in dry climates for periods longer than a year before hatching. Under these conditions, they hatch immediately after being submerged in any amount of water. Thus, the A. aegypti mosquito population is very difficult to control.

To learn more about how to protect yourself from A. aegypti and A. albopictus, visit the CDC page on Zika prevention.

How Southern Research cancer advances changed a life

Posted on June 21, 2016
Allen Tucker, left, poses with his brother Alex, a member of Auburn's track team. As a child, Allen was treated for leukemia with drugs Southern Research helped develop.
Allen Tucker, left, poses with his brother Alex, a member of Auburn’s track team, at a recent meet. As a child, Allen was treated for leukemia with drugs Southern Research helped develop.

Southern Research physicist Jim Tucker has spent most of his career tackling the challenges that must be overcome to make space flight possible, so he knows all about the organization’s important contributions to the Space Shuttle and other programs.

Tucker has also seen first-hand the impact of Southern Research’s breakthrough work in a completely different field – cancer research.

His 23-year-old son, Allen, is alive today thanks to the pioneering work of Southern Research scientists who discovered the fundamentals of chemotherapy and helped developed the drugs used in his treatment.

“It has always been cemented in my mind that Southern Research is one of those bastions of research that changes your life,” Tucker said. “That was never in doubt, but this has been reaffirming for me in a powerful way.”

The story begins in August 1996, when Allen was just 3. Though he was born with Down Syndrome, Allen was a healthy child until Acute Lymphatic Leukemia (ALL) struck. At first, he was lethargic and increasingly withdrawn. Then the pain started.

The pain was so severe that Allen let out a scream when the family car hit a speed bump on the way to Children’s Hospital. By this time, Allen was running a fever and had completely stopped moving.

Tucker and his wife, Pam, were terrified when the doctor diagnosed ALL. The chemotherapy, though, restored hope.

“It was a virtual resurrection. If you’ve ever seen a child with leukemia about to start the treatment, it’s frightening,” Tucker said. “Allen was motionless and had a morphine drip. Then they started treatment, and within two or three days, he was back. It was amazing.”

TREATMENT ADVANCES

Tucker said Allen’s treatment included doses of methotrexate, 6-Mercaptopurine (6-MP), and Leucoveron — three medicines that Southern Research played a prominent role in developing.

Southern Research scientists discovered a superior method for producing methotrexate, a drug that is used against a range of autoimmune disorders, and the organization held a patent on Leucoveron’s method of production. In addition, Southern Research scientists performed the fundamental biochemistry work on 6-MP, an important chemotherapy drug.

“That was quite remarkable to me,” Tucker said.

Later, Tucker began to understand that Southern Research’s groundbreaking work on chemotherapy had played an even more significant underlying role in Allen’s treatment. That’s because Southern Research scientists led by Howard Skipper decades earlier had established many of the principles that paved the way for effective chemotherapy.

Skipper and his team showed that every malignant cell has to be eradicated to ensure patient survival and that chemotherapy drugs given in combination can overcome resistance. Skipper also introduced the concept that a dose of chemotherapy kills a specific percentage of cancer cells rather than a specific number – an important treatment insight.

“The work Howard Skipper did here essentially led to the cure for leukemia,” said Tucker, who heads Southern Research’s materials research group. “I’m a physicist, so statistics are big to me, and it was his statistical revelations that cured my son’s cancer. He made a huge impact on a lot of lives, including mine.”

17 YEARS LATER

After Allen left Children’s, he still faced a grueling 2.5 years of chemotherapy to make sure every last cancer cell was gone. Once the treatment was complete, Tucker had a message for his Southern Research co-workers.

“We want to remind people here that without their work, our son would still be in tremendous pain, battling a disease that could have taken his life,” he said in a 1999 interview for SRItems, the internal publication.

Back then, Tucker wouldn’t use the word “cure” because he feared a recurrence. Today, Allen attends an adult special-needs program three times a week, where he can enjoy art and music. He remains cancer-free.

“The concept of a cure is something I can talk about 17 years later. He was 6 when he came off chemotherapy; now he’s 23,” Tucker said. “That’s where Southern Research comes in.”

Learn more about Southern Research’s current cancer research.

BIO agenda: Advance the Alabama Drug Discovery Alliance, promote state

Posted on June 6, 2016
Southern Research
Two drug discovery scientists at work in a Southern Research lab.

A Southern Research team is showcasing the Alabama Drug Discovery Alliance (ADDA) and its pipeline of potential therapies for debilitating diseases at this week’s BIO International Convention, while also promoting Alabama’s advantages in the sector to industry leaders.

The ADDA is a strategic collaboration that unites the talents and resources of Southern Research and the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine in a coordinated drug discovery and development program.

Art Tipton, Ph.D, president and CEO of Southern Research, said the team will engage in focused talks with high-level biotech and pharmaceutical industry executives while in San Francisco for BIO. The team has more than three dozen scheduled partnering sessions, and the number of meetings could rise.

Joining Tipton for the talks are Mark Suto, Ph.D, vice president of discovery at Southern Research, and Maaike Everets, Ph.D., director of the ADDA and an associate professor in UAB’s Department of Pediatrics.

“We’re hugely excited about the pipeline,” Tipton said. “While early stage, we have some great candidates, and our approach minimizes risk as we partner academic discovery with industry diligence.”

The ADDA’s pipeline today consists of about 17 potential therapies, including possible treatments for Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, kidney disease and many forms of cancer. Last month, researchers at the two institutions received a $250,000 grant to expand an investigation into Alzheimer’s that began as an ADDA project.

BIO CONVENTION LOGO_VERTICAL_NODATES_CMYKAt BIO today, Tipton participated in a panel discussion titled “Creative Partnerships: Leveraging Economic Development Organization Support in the Life Sciences Sector.” The event was sponsored by Select USA, a U.S. Department of Commerce program that promotes the U.S. as a site for investment and commercial ties.

Tipton discussed topics including Alabama’s overall life sciences climate and the Alabama Legislature’s support of the ADDA. He also described how the Alabama Innovation Fund provided a critical grant for the Alliance for Innovative Medical Technology, another Southern Research-UAB partnership that has developed a unique treadmill.

The BIO conference in San Francisco’s Moscone Center is expected to attract 15,000 biotech and pharma leaders from around the world over a week. More than 4,000 companies are expected to attend, with 69 countries represented.

In a question-and-answer session, Tipton discusses Southern Research’s goals at the conference and how the organization’s team plans to support the Alabama delegation while in San Francisco.

 Why is Southern Research focusing on drug discovery work at BIO?

“The headline reason we’re going is everything we’re doing with the Alabama Drug Discovery Alliance. The companies want to meet with us because we have a very promising early-stage pipeline, and they need additional candidates in their pipelines. It’s that simple.

“We’re meeting with senior-level people charged with finding new molecules to fill up their pipelines. Big Pharma is there looking for blockbuster potential to add to the pipeline.”

Will Zika – a special area of interest for Southern Research – be a major topic?

 “Zika will come up at the conference. It’s the hottest topic right now, and we’ll get asked about what we can do and what we are doing in Zika. We have the first cynomolgus monkey model for doing Zika work, and that’s going to attract some attention. We have the capabilities with high-throughput screening and in vitro characterization to look at new vaccines.

“We can help companies that are developing products.”

Aside from the partnering meetings, what else will you participate in at BIO?

 “There will be briefing documents coming from the federal government about what it is looking to fund in upcoming years. So, we can get, particularly in the infectious disease space but also in a number of other areas, insight into what they want to fund. That’s hugely valuable.

“The sessions on Zika are going to be packed, because the government is going to be making significant funding available. For all things related to bio-threat reduction, we’ll be able to be front and center and to see and hear about those things.”

Alabama is placing a greater emphasis on recruiting bioscience jobs. Is there a bioscience field that ideally fits with what the state can offer?

 “For me, one area we should be focusing on in the sector, from an economic development perspective, is additional biotech/pharmaceutical manufacturing. That’s where we are going to create the greatest number of jobs in Alabama. We can manufacture and produce things competitively with any other part of the country. Those jobs are a great match for the workforce we have in the state.”

How will Alabama benefit from broad involvement in BIO?

 “The companies from across Alabama will get to know each other better, get to know what their capabilities are – that’s always a good thing. We will have an opportunity, both on the exhibit floor and at the dinner, to present ourselves as a state and to show the breadth of companies in Alabama to a variety of people.

Also, many other states will have a presence at BIO. Being represented there puts Alabama in the bioscience sector, just like all the other states. That’s a positive thing. Having a continual presence at the conference is important. People know each other, they’re in the mix, they know who to contact in the state.”

Southern Research launches philanthropic outreach with $500,000 gift

Posted on June 1, 2016

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Southern Research, a non-profit organization marking its 75th year of operation in 2016, today launched a broad-based philanthropic outreach initiative that includes a significant employee giving campaign.

The Southern Research employee give campaign is targeting $1 million in contributions over five years to fund innovative research programs, needed capital improvements, equipment purchases, and other potential uses.

To kick start the campaign, former President and CEO John A. “Jack” Secrist III, Ph.D., has pledged a donation of $500,000 to create the Encourage Innovation Fund. The fund will be used to enhance the organization’s ability to attract talented researchers and to help them thrive once they’re on board.

Secrist is a noted scientist who retired from Southern Research in 2013 after 34 years, including seven as its top leader. His research focused on the development of new anticancer, antiviral and antibacterial agents, and he is the co-inventor of clofarabine, an FDA-approved treatment for pediatric leukemia.

“Southern Research has played a prominent role in efforts to discover more effective treatments for cancer, make man’s journeys into space safer, and develop new technologies for a cleaner environment,” Secrist said. “From its beginning, the organization has been a hotbed of innovation, and supporting it today means that it will continue to make important contributions well into the future. We appreciate being part of that future.”

To show their firm support for the initiative, Southern Research’s entire leadership team – comprised of 33 officials, from the CEO to the director level – has agreed to participate in the employee give campaign.

Before today’s public announcement, the employee give campaign had quietly generated commitments totaling $145,000, all from the organization’s leadership team. Coupled with Secrist’s substantial contribution, Southern Research is making a strong push toward the campaign’s $1 million goal.

PHILANTHROPIC OUTREACH

In addition, Southern Research is taking steps to reconnect with the philanthropic community and with donors whose generosity enabled the organization founded in Birmingham in 1941 to become a world leader in cancer research and make noteworthy advances in other fields including clean energy, vaccine development and engineering.

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Southern Research seeks charitable donations to complement its traditional funding stream of research grants and contracts secured from government and commercial sponsors.

“As we celebrate our 75th anniversary, and beyond, we’re looking forward to reengaging with the philanthropic community and with donors who have helped Southern Research make a difference in the world,” said Art Tipton, Ph.D., president and CEO. “In fact, our cancer research program, which has been instrumental in saving countless lives with drug discoveries and therapeutic breakthroughs, got its start in 1946 with a single $25,000 philanthropic gift.”

As part of this outreach, Southern Research recently brought Brynne MacCann on board to provide administrative and tactical support to the organization’s fund-raising strategy. MacCann previously served as vice president for development at the McWane Science Center, and, prior to McWane, in development roles at the Birmingham Museum of Art and the MS Society.

Today, Southern Research’s four operating divisions focus on drug discovery, drug development, engineering, and energy and the environment. Its staff of more than 400 scientists, engineers and researchers work at facilities in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland and Texas.

Southern Research was incorporated on Oct. 11, 1941, as the Alabama Research Institute, and its name was changed three years later to reflect its regional focus. Over the years, the organization has conducted work on behalf of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, major aerospace firms, utility companies, and many others.

Southern Research teams investigate Zika virus and its damaging mechanisms

Posted on May 3, 2016
Aedes aegypti mosquito
The Zika virus is carried by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.

Scientists at Southern Research are heavily involved in the global fight against Zika, and are examining five different strains of the virus in a broad-based effort to penetrate the mysteries of a virus that was seen as posing little threat before being linked to devastating neurological abnormalities in unborn children as well as other maladies.

Through this multi-pronged inquiry, infectious disease experts in the Drug Discovery and Drug Development divisions at Southern Research have engaged in basic and applied science to better understand Zika, while exploring how the mosquito-borne virus progresses in infected human neural cells. Scientists are also using these virus stocks to develop in vivo models to evaluate potential vaccines and treatments.

In March, Southern Research developed the first in vitro antiviral assay for the Zika virus, giving researchers and drug developers worldwide a testing platform for new compounds and biologics capable of interfering with Zika virus infection and replication by detecting the accumulation of progeny virus in cull culture supernatants.

Timothy Sellati, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Infectious Diseases in Southern Research’s Drug Discovery division, said the Zika investigation aims to reveal the mechanisms that cause microcephaly, a rare disorder that causes a baby’s brain and head to be abnormally small.

“If we can understand how this virus affects normal human RNA, we may be able to develop therapeutics that can either eradicate the virus entirely or at least neutralize the virus’ ability to cause such severe damage to normal brain development,” Sellati said.

SUDDEN THREAT

Jonathan Rayner, director of Infectious Disease Research
Jonathan Rayner, director of Infectious Disease Research

After a surge in microcephaly cases in Brazil, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in April confirmed the link between the birth defect and Zika. The virus has also been recently associated with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a rare condition causing muscle weakness and temporary paralysis, as well as other illnesses in pediatric and adult populations.

“The more we learn about Zika, the more we realize how complex this virus truly is,” said Jonathan Rayner, Ph.D., Southern Research’s director of Infectious Disease Research. “While in the past, Zika was understood to be arthropod-borne virus associated with limited clinical pathology, we are now seeing increased transmission by previously unrecognized routes, including sexual transmission, and it is becoming increasingly associated with significant maladies in both newborns and adults.”

The virus was first identified in Uganda’s Zika Forest in 1947. Since this time, there have been several other outbreaks in various equatorial regions of the world, but Zika’s sudden emergence as a public-health hazard in the Americas makes developing a complete understanding of the virus a critical priority, Rayner said.

As part of that effort, Southern Research’s infectious disease researchers are studying five unique strains of the virus, each isolated in the geographic locations of a previous outbreak.

“One interesting question is whether, over this span of time, the Zika virus changed genetically in terms of its virulence and its ability to cause disease, particularly neurological diseases like microcephaly or Guillain-Barré Syndrome,” Sellati said.

“That’s a question we’re able to address in-house here at Southern Research.”

COORDINATED EFFORT

Southern Research is well positioned to take a leading role in the fight against Zika. With fully developed labs dedicated to drug discovery and drug development, the organization has deep experience in infectious disease research, including mosquito-borne viruses, and a longstanding history of exploring new drugs for a wide range of cancers and other maladies.

“We have a lot of experience working with other viruses in the same family as Zika,” Rayner said. “Dengue is a very good example. We have very active drug-screening programs against dengue and have developed the associated in vivo models to support drug development. West Nile virus is another example, as is Japanese encephalitis, yellow fever – we’ve established research programs and models for all of those.”

Tim Sellati, chair of Infectious Diseases, Drug Discovery.
Tim Sellati, chair of the Department of Infectious Diseases.

Sellati said teams of experts from various fields at Southern Research are collaborating on the Zika investigation, with the common goal of gaining insights that can combat the virus’ harmful spread.

“When you see the tiny brains, the tiny skulls of these children born with microcephaly, it’s amazing how devastating this viral infection on the normal development of the cerebral cortex,” he said. “We hope our research will help the scientific community better understand the aggressive nature of this virus, as we work collectively to fight its spread and develop effective therapeutic approaches.”

The Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology (DART) program at Southern Research is poised to assist Sellati and Rayner as a partner in this effort. Researchers in the organization’s DART program have decades of experience and expertise, which will be invaluable assets in the program to determine how Zika is able to interrupt normal brain development.

“Once we have a better understanding of the complex interactions between the Zika-infected mother and child, we can help define a strategy to effectively prevent or mitigate Zika-induced birth defects,” said Paul Bushdid, DART program leader.

E.A. Dulmadge: Pursuing a research dream and attacking cancer

Posted on March 28, 2016

Elizabeth Ann Dulmadge – E.A., as she was known to her friends — arrived at Southern Research Institute in 1956 with more than a decade of experience in a clinical microbiology laboratory. She soon became involved in a significant new area of inquiry for the institute: cancer research.

Over several decades, Dulmadge’s work in Southern Research’s anticancer drug screening program helped the Birmingham-based organization make important strides in the battle against a disease doctors still struggle to understand.

To mark Women’s History Month, Southern Research is highlighting the careers of some of the female scientists and technicians who have made meaningful contributions to the institute over its 75 years of scientific investigation.

“E.A. Dulmadge should be an inspiration to many young people today, particularly girls interested in science,” said Art Tipton, Ph.D., president and CEO of Southern Research. “E.A. pursued her dream of conducting research that could help save lives, and her valuable work over many years accomplished that.”

Dulmadge came to the institute after earning a bachelor’s degree in biology from Birmingham-Southern College and working for 11 years as supervisor of the clinical microbiology lab at University Hospital, now UAB.

“I wanted more of a challenge to see what I could do,” she recalled in a 1981 interview to mark her 25th anniversary at Southern Research.

CELL CULTURE WORK

Her sense of timing in 1956 was ideal. After arriving at Southern Research, she spent six months testing antiviral agents for pharmaceutical company Parke-Davis, then transferred to the institute’s fledgling anticancer drug screening program.

She worked alongside Dr. Frank Schabel, whose groundbreaking research with Dr. Howard Skipper and others at Southern Research advanced the role of chemotherapy as an effective cancer treatment and expanded the understanding of how to better counter the disease.

“Dr. Schabel put me in charge of the cell culture work since my background in microbiology was an excellent prerequisite for this type of work,” she recalled.

In those days, pharmaceutical companies were developing large numbers of synthetic drugs, and it was up to Southern Research to test them for the National Cancer Institute. Dulmadge and the team annually screened 5,000 to 7,000 compounds in cell cultures – cells grown under controlled conditions, perfect for experimental studies.

Over the years, she continued her work with cell cultures, investigating the effects of antitumor agents on laboratory-grown tumors and studying cells resistant to anticancer agents. Her inquiries included an extensive look into tumor stem cells, or those cells that give rise to cancer. She also developed effective methods of growing tumor colonies for the screening tests.

ANTICANCER ADVANCES

Dulmadge, who contributed to at least two dozen scientific papers with her Southern Research colleagues, felt a deep sense of accomplishment in the institute’s chemotherapy research.

“I think of how much more we know about cancer chemotherapy now that we did in the beginning of the program,” she said in the 1981 interview. “It’s been a privilege to work here.”

Dulmadge retired in 1992, after 36 years at Southern Research. At her death, she left a majority of her estate to Birmingham-Southern, which created the Elizabeth A. Dulmadge Scholarship Fund in 2004 for students majoring in biology or music.

Southern Research’s anticancer drug expertise has led to the discovery of six FDA-approved medicines that treat the disease. The organization remains a key player in cancer research, having received more than $90 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health over the past two decades.

Mary Trader: Unraveling leukemia’s mysteries in a Southern Research lab

Posted on March 28, 2016
Mary Trader
Mary Trader

When Mary Trader joined Southern Research in 1966, she had a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from St. Mary’s Dominican College in her hometown of New Orleans and plans to stick around for one year.

Trader’s one year blossomed into a long career at Southern Research that saw her rise to head the Experimental Leukemia Section, where she played a significant role in the institute’s pioneering chemotherapy work.

“You can’t help but feel you have made some contribution to eradicating a dread disease,” Trader recalled in a 1981 interview marking her 25th year at Southern Research.

Because March is Women’s History Month, Southern Research is highlighting the contributions of several of the organization’s prominent female scientists over its 75 years of operation.

“Southern Research has been fortunate to have employed many great women scientists like Mary Trader in its history,” said Art Tipton, Ph.D., president and CEO. “Their careful and thoughtful work in our labs has deepened the scientific community’s understanding of cancer and other diseases.”

Trader’s career at Southern Research began as the search for new cancer-fighting drugs accelerated in its Birmingham labs, thanks to a steady stream of funding from the National Cancer Institute. For Trader, the first few years were spent in a crowded lab in the Ingalls West building.

“At the beginning of the screening program, there was already a backlog of drugs that had never been tested against cancer,” she recalled. “We had a field day testing everything the government had to send us.”

IN THE LAB

In 1973, Trader was appointed head of the Experimental Leukemia Section. Her lab conducted work in mouse leukemia that contributed to improved cancer treatments, particularly of acute lymphocytic leukemia, or ALL.

In those days, ALL spread rapidly and often fatally in children, but because of advances coming from Southern Research and other organizations, survival rates began to rise sharply.

The work performed by Trader’s team contributed to these advances in several ways. For one thing, her lab developed at least 20 lines of drug-resistant leukemias that proved useful in testing drug treatments. These resistant forms of leukemia were utilized in biochemistry and cell culture studies to expose the mechanism of drug resistance.

“We want to know why a drug does not work in a person’s body and what happens to it,” Trader said in 1980.

In addition, extensive testing carried out in Trader’s lab demonstrated the validity of famed Southern Research cancer researcher Dr. Howard Skipper’s theory that just one cancer cell can trigger the fatal disease. Skipper introduced the concept that every single cancer cell must be eliminated to ensure the survival of the patient.

“This added some basic knowledge to understanding the magnitude of the disease of cancer,” Trader recalled.

Her lab also conducted studies on combination chemotherapy that explored how new and existing drugs could be used together or in sequence as an effective treatment regimen for leukemia and many different forms of cancer.

“Everything we have learned — proper scheduling of drugs, problems of drug resistance and demonstration of one cancer cell’s impact — has tied in with increasingly successful treatment of children with leukemia,” Trader said in 1980.

‘INSTANT RECALL’

Soon after marking 30 years at Southern Research, Trader died from a heart attack in 1987. She was 64 years old.

Dr. Russell Laster, then head of the institute’s Cancer Screening Division, noted her immense contribution to the organization’s work. “She was like a computer with 30 years of storage and instant recall, and you can’t replace that.”

During her career as an experimental cancer chemotherapist, Trader contributed to at least 30 scientific papers, including several with Skipper and another prominent figure in cancer research, Dr. Frank Schabel. She also presented her leukemia findings at national meetings held by the American Association for Cancer Research and others.

Prominent Scientist to Lead Southern Research’s Drug Discovery Infectious Diseases Program

Posted on November 11, 2015

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – November 11, 2015 – Timothy Sellati, Ph.D., has joined Southern Research’s Drug Discovery division as senior research fellow and chair, Infectious Disease Department. Sellati will lead infectious disease researchers who are currently working to identify novel mechanisms, targets, and strategies for prevention and treatment of both bacterial and viral infectious diseases that occur throughout the world.

Sellati comes to SR from the Trudeau Institute in Saranac Lake, New York. Before joining the Trudeau Institute in 2013, he established his independent research program in the Center for Immunology and Microbial Disease at Albany Medical College. Sellati’s current research is focused on immunity to Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, vaccine development against biological threat agents and emerging pathogens, and harnessing self-assembling antimicrobial nanofibers to target antibiotic resistant pathogens.

“We are excited to have Dr. Sellati join SR,” said Mark Suto, Ph.D., vice president, Drug Discovery. “His broad expertise in infectious diseases, particularly emerging pathogens, will be critical to the success of our programs in these areas.”

Sellati most recently completed research under the New York State Senate Task Force on Lyme and Other Tick-borne Diseases, and he has written or co-authored 40 publications on Lyme disease and Tularemia research. He brings with him more than $4 million in funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. Sellati is currently the Immunology Scientific Councilor for the International Endotoxin and Innate Immunity Society and past president of the Eastern New York Branch of the American Society for Microbiologists.

“Tim is a great addition to our ongoing strategy of drug discovery at Southern Research, as Mark Suto is executing a strategy of complementing our deep capabilities in HTS and medicinal chemistry with experts in the clinical areas our drugs will serve,” said Art Tipton, Ph.D., Southern Research president and CEO. “Tim will be chairing the area of infectious disease, the largest research area for Southern Research and a growing focus worldwide, with recurring diseases such as influenza, and emerging or re-emerging threats such as dengue, West Nile, SARS, and Ebola. His role parallels additional chairs at Southern Research in oncology and central nervous system research; together these describe the deep novel drug pipeline we are developing.”

About Southern Research
Southern Research is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization with more than 400 scientists and engineers working across four divisions: drug discovery, drug development, engineering, and energy and environment. We work on behalf of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, major aerospace firms, utility companies, and other private and government organizations as we solve the world’s hardest problems. Southern Research, founded in 1941, is headquartered in Birmingham with additional laboratories and offices in Wilsonville and Huntsville, Frederick, Maryland, Durham, North Carolina, Cartersville, Georgia, and Houston. Visit southernresearch.org for more information.

Media Contact:
Rossi M. Carlson
205-581-2266

Southern Research Receives $7.5 Million Award to Discover New Therapies for Cystic Fibrosis Patients with Rare Mutations

Posted on October 21, 2015

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – October 21, 2015 – Southern Research has received an award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s nonprofit drug discovery and development affiliate, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc. (CFFT). The funding will support research focused on the development of novel drugs for cystic fibrosis (CF) patients with rare genetic mutations, furthering the ultimate goal of treating all people with CF. The milestone-based research phase is for $7.5 million over five years and can be increased to $9 million.

Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening, genetic disease that affects approximately 30,000 people in the U.S., with almost 1,000 new cases each year, and nearly 70,000 people worldwide. In the U.S., CF is the second most common inherited disease. More than 10 million Americans unknowingly carry the CF gene and there are more than 1,800 mutations of the gene.

Southern Research will be joined in this effort by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Southern Research’s High Throughput Screening Center, UAB, and CFFT have been working together for several years investigating the repurposing of known drugs for the treatment of CF.

In addition, through the Alabama Drug Discovery Alliance (ADDA), Southern Research and UAB established a program to look for potential new treatments for several rare genetic diseases such as Hurler’s syndrome, with mutations similar to those found in some CF patients. Initial funding through the ADDA provided the groundwork for this drug discovery project, which originated with UAB’s David Bedwell, Ph.D., and Steven M. Rowe, M.D., working with Southern Research’s HTS group, headed by Bob Bostwick, Ph.D.

“We are excited about the opportunity to expand our relationship with CFFT on the discovery of new treatments for cystic fibrosis,” said Mark J. Suto, Ph.D., vice president of Drug Discovery at Southern Research. “This project highlights the strengths and capabilities of the ADDA, which combines UAB’s basic and clinical research with the drug discovery and development expertise of Southern Research.”

“We are extremely pleased to be working with CFFT and Southern Research in this effort to find therapies for cystic fibrosis patients with a nonsense mutation,” said Steven Rowe, M.D., professor of Medicine at UAB and director of the UAB Gregory Fleming James Cystic Fibrosis Research Center. “The groundbreaking studies of nonsense mutations for this project were done by Dr. David Bedwell, Professor of Microbiology, Genetics and Cell Biology, UAB. With this award, we are uniquely positioned to build on those successes. Our understanding of the genetic causes of cystic fibrosis continues to grow, and we expect meaningful discoveries will result from this work.”

“This is a great achievement for Southern Research and a further testament to the value of the Alabama Drug Discovery Alliance partnership with UAB,” said Southern Research President and CEO, Art Tipton, Ph.D. “We appreciate the confidence that CFFT has placed in our team to identify treatments and therapies that could make a real difference.”

About Southern Research

Southern Research is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization with nearly 500 scientists and engineers working across four divisions: drug discovery, drug development, engineering, and energy and environment.

  • We’re developing 18 drugs to combat various forms of cancer, ALS, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, kidney disease, and Parkinson’s, among others.
  • We’ve developed seven FDA-approved cancer drugs.
  • We’re developing new medical devices.
  • We’re helping to launch manned missions to Mars.
  • We’re making the air and water cleaner here on Earth.

We work on behalf of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, major aerospace firms, utility companies, and other private and government organizations as we solve the world’s hardest problems. Founded in 1941, Southern Research is headquartered in Birmingham with additional laboratories and offices in Wilsonville and Huntsville, Alabama, Frederick, Maryland, Durham, North Carolina, Cartersville, Georgia, and Houston.

Southern Research and UAB Part of Multisite Study on Effects of Chemical Nerve Agents

Posted on September 8, 2015

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Sept. 8, 2015 – Researchers at Southern Research and the University of Alabama at Birmingham are part of a multisite consortium sharing a new five-year, $3.8 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke CounterACT program, part of the National Institutes of Health, to learn more about organophosphate exposure to the central nervous system.

Organophosphates are chemicals that have been used for decades as pesticides but are also major components of chemical nerve agents that represent a continued threat to military personnel and citizens from terrorist groups and rogue nations. The grant will be used to support research that investigates new chemical and imaging technologies to understand how poisonous organophosphates enter the brain and how antidotes and therapeutics can be used to reduce neurotoxic effects to organophosphate exposures.

The multi-principal investigator team includes John Gerdes, Ph.D., senior research fellow and director of neurobiology, Southern Research, Kurt Zinn, DVM, Ph.D., professor and vice chair of Translational Research in the UAB Department of Radiology, Henry VanBrocklin, Ph.D., professor of radiology at the University of California, San Francisco, and Charles Thompson, Ph.D., professor of biomedical & pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Montana.

Central to the award is the utilization of positron emission tomography ¬– or PET imaging – to evaluate organophosphate exposures and the efficacy of the therapeutics in hopes of developing highly useful clinical tools and therapeutic inventions.

PET imaging has been used widely in cancer diagnosis and to determine the progress of certain neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. This research is the first use of PET imaging to study toxic organophosphates. The researchers are hopeful that this PET imaging investigation will unveil important characteristics about brain susceptibility to toxic agents and guide drug development that halts or reverses the toxic effects following organophosphate exposures.

About Southern Research
Southern Research is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization with nearly 500 scientists and engineers working across four divisions: drug discovery, drug development, engineering, and energy and environment.

• We’re developing 18 drugs to combat various forms of cancer, ALS, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, kidney disease, and Parkinson’s, among others.
• We’ve developed seven FDA-approved cancer drugs.
• We’re developing new medical devices.
• We’re helping to launch manned missions to Mars.
• We’re making the air and water cleaner here on Earth.

We work on behalf of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, major aerospace firms, utility companies, and other private and government organizations as we solve the world’s hardest problems. Founded in 1941, Southern Research is headquartered in Birmingham with additional laboratories and offices in Wilsonville and Huntsville, Frederick, Maryland, Durham, North Carolina, Cartersville, Georgia, and Houston. Learn more at southernresearch.org.

About UAB
Known for its innovative and interdisciplinary approach to education at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, the University of Alabama at Birmingham is an internationally renowned research university and academic medical center, as well as Alabama’s largest employer, with some 23,000 employees, and has an annual economic impact exceeding $5 billion on the state. The five pillars of UAB’s mission include education, research, patient care, community service and economic development. UAB is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Center for Translational Science Award. Learn more at www.uab.edu. UAB: Knowledge that will change your world.

Media Contacts:
Southern Research: Rossi Morris
205-581-2266 or rmorris@southernresearch.org
UAB: Bob Shepard
205-934-8934 or bshep@uab.edu

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