Saint Louis University researchers are working across departments and around the world 创造改变生命的药物和生物医学设备.
Five of 博彩网址大全’s researchers explain their work and the goals of 博彩网址大全’s Institute for 药物和生物治疗创新(博彩网址大全-IDBI).
协作是关键
研究ers at 博彩网址大全 are in the midst of planning the Institute of Drug and Biotherapeutic Innovation (博彩网址大全-IDBI) to bring together experts in drug development to share expertise, 激发创意，促进合作. 这些研究人员创造了潜在的药物 and biomedical devices for diseases that are oftentimes under-researched.
大卫·格里格斯博士.博士，分子微生物学与免疫学副教授， 有这样一个研究者的例子吗. 格里格斯研究腹泻病.
“[Diarrheal disease] kills between two and three million people per year,” said Griggs. “Over half of a million of those are children under the age of five.”
Griggs’ lab researches compounds that kill Cryptosporidium, a parasite that causes 危及生命的婴儿腹泻. 这项有影响力的研究引起了来自 the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is now partially funded by the organization.
“The success of drug discovery really depends on successful collaborations,” said Griggs.
博彩网址大全-IDBI is both an interdisciplinary collaboration and a global one. 它由 of around 70 faculty members, includes researchers from various departments at 博彩网址大全 including: Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, Molecular Micro生物学, Pediatrics. Many of these faculty members have experience in the pharmaceutical industry, which 为集团带来丰富的行业知识. 博彩网址大全-IDBI的研究人员也是如此 collaborate with researchers around the world to create transformative medications 和设备.
关注被遗忘的人
“We came in here with the idea to really focus on what the big pharmaceutical companies
were not: rare diseases [and] neglected diseases which tend to afflict mostly people
in poor countries, I think that fits very well with the mission of Saint Louis
格里格斯说.
Diseases that mainly affect poorer countries, such as diarrheal diseases, are often 尽管它们往往更致命，但研究却很少. 博彩网址大全-IDBI努力 为了解决这种差异.
阿德里亚娜米. Montano, Ph值.D、副教授 of pediatrics, biochemistry, molecular 生物学. 研究粘多糖病(MPS). MPS在儿童中非常罕见. “The patients have skeletal abnormalities… [and] have a very short life span,” said Montano.
Montano developed an enzyme replacement therapy targeting MPS that is undergoing preclinical 试用.
“没有那么多人研究[孤儿]疾病... 我们可以做出重大改变，”Montano说.
另一个很有前景的项目来自弗兰·斯维德鲁普博士的实验室.D、副教授 生物化学和分子生物学. Sverdrup的研究重点是面肩肱骨 肌肉萎缩症(FSHD)治疗.
Sverdrup began his research into FSHD shortly after he came to 博彩网址大全, when his daughter 被诊断出患有这种疾病.
“这是个人问题，这很难接受. 你必须找到一个你能保持的节奏， but every night I go home and I see my daughter and … that’s all it takes,” said Sverdrup.
Though there are currently no treatments available for FSHD, Sverdrup’s lab has established a collaboration with a pharmaceutical partner and hopes to advance one of their treatments 很快就会进入人体临床试验.
点燃的发现
博彩网址大全-IDBI is also on the forefront of an entirely new drug delivery system.
西尔维娅·苏斯提亚克博士.D、副教授 of biomedical engineering, studies hydrogels, one of the newest entries into the market of drug delivery devices, Hydrogels are polymers that form ideal mimics of any soft tissue in the body and can house critical 生物制剂. Zustiak explains that what differentiates the hydrogels that are being developed at 博彩网址大全 is that they “can degrade in a desired amount of time.”
“[These hydrogels] can cure diseases which previously have been thought incurable,” 说Zustiak.
Zustiak hopes that the innovative research happening at 博彩网址大全 will catalyze collaborations 公司可以把它带给病人.
“圣. 路易斯对我们的学生和毕业生都很有吸引力。” 说Zustiak. “我们正在培养解决问题的人才.”
St. Louis is rife with opportunity in this developing field, with the Cortex Innovation Community just a few blocks away, 博彩网址大全 researchers are primed to make a big impact.
Founded in 2002 through a collaboration between 博彩网址大全, Washington University in St. 路易斯，密苏里大学圣路易斯市. 路易斯，BJC医疗和密苏里植物园 Garden, Cortex is the Midwest’s premier innovation hub for research, development, 以及生物科学和技术的商业化. 因为Cortex, 博彩网址大全-IDBI是 able to connect and work with researchers both from the public sphere and from neighboring 大学.
博彩网址大全
Learn more about the researchers featured in this video and article.
大卫·格里格斯博士.D.
副教授，分子微生物学与免疫学Griggs’ research is currently focused on two different topics: 1) cell proteins called integrins effect on scar formation and 2) cryptosporidiosis, an illness that often 导致危及生命的腹泻. 他希望他的实验室的许多合作 and 博彩网址大全’s IDBI engages in will spur the production of life-saving medications for 罕见和被忽视的疾病.
马文·迈耶斯博士.D.
化学副教授 化学生物学项目协调员Meyers’ lab focuses on medicnical chemistry to “optimize the potency, pharmacokinetics, and safety profiles of compounds with the ultimate goal of identification of candidate 临床试验用药物.他的研究重点是寻找新的药物 对于传染病. 他的实验室正在积极研究疟疾隐孢子虫病 tuberculosis, herpes simplex virus, hepatitis B virus, cryptococcal meningitis.
阿德里亚娜米. Montano, Ph值.D.
儿科学副教授 & 生物化学与分子生物学
Montano researches enzyme replacement therapy, gene therapy and other types of treatment 粘多糖病(MPS). 她特别“致力于建立一个登记处” and growth charts for patients with MPS IVA and are in pre-clinical 试用 for enzyme MPS IVA患者的替代治疗.
弗兰·斯维德鲁普博士.D.
副教授，生物化学与分子生物学
Sverdrup’s lab is “focused on drug discovery in human genetic diseases as well as 传染病”. 他目前的研究重点是面肩肱肌 dystrophy (FSHD), which is one of the most common types of muscular dystrophy for 目前还没有治疗方法. 他的方法是“执行高吞吐量” screening of chemical libraries to identify compounds intended to epigenetically suppress DUX4基因.”
西尔维娅·苏斯提亚克博士.D.
生物医学工程副教授
Zustiak’s research interests are hydrogels and tissue engineering. 她的实验室重点 on developing biomaterials as cell scaffolds for drug delivery purposes. 她强调 that “biomaterial-based models are crucial for bridging the gap between traditional tissue culture and animal models by providing a cell environment that closely mimics 真正的组织.”