Newswise — Cancer research at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research is guided by the Institute's overall philosophy that the most substantial breakthroughs in fighting diseases have come from basic scientific investigations on the workings of cells and the molecules that comprise them. Burnham researchers bring the most advanced thinking and technologies to bear on the root causes and therapy of cancer.
The Cancer Center's mission is to continue to bridge the gap between basic biological research, in which Burnham has traditionally excelled, and the highly applied anticancer drug discovery work carried out by pharmaceutical companies. These efforts have significantly benefited from the establishment of the San Diego Center for Chemical Genomics (SDCCG) at Burnham, as one of 10 collaborating centers, known collectively as the "Molecular Libraries Screening Centers Network (MLSCN)". This national network funded by the National Institutes of Health is focused on the discovery of novel chemical probes to advance the understanding of the biochemical pathways involved in cancer and other human diseases.
With the end of the MLSCN pilot phase approaching, NIH is slated to choose approximately three of the ten centers to continue as Comprehensive Centers the next phase of the initiative, the Molecular Libraries Probe Production Centers Network (MLPCN), with a focus on probe discovery and development, and with the expectation that increased knowledge and wider understanding of probe chemistry will accelerate the development of new therapeutics. The Comprehensive MLPCN centers will be announced in summer of 2008.
"Burnham is poised to contribute to the next phase of this NIH Initiative as a Comprehensive Screening Center," says Dr. Kristiina Vuori, Executive Vice President for Scientific Affairs. "With a track record of strong performance in the pilot MLSCN phase and impressive institutional support, Burnham's center stands ready to fulfill the demands of the production phase of this important initiative."
It is important to note that Burnham's center offers impressive High Throughput Screening (HTS) capabilities, but also special expertise in NMR-based drug discovery and in high content screening (HCS) using high throughput microscopy (HTM). In fact, Burnham researchers are currently working to advance the field of 3D-imaging beyond monolayer cultures to allow screens to be performed using a diversity of complex 3D cellular systems. In addition, Burnham has the unique ability to rapidly synthesize compound analogs using novel microfluidics technology. Advancing microfluidics-based chemical synthesis procedures will empower the Center to produce compounds in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost of conventional methods.
Burnham is continually expanding the capabilities of the center, including expanded instrumentation and personnel for medicinal chemistry, resources for launching a pharmacology core facility, and acquisition of an innovative ultra-HTS system with enhanced modularity and flexibility compared to current systems. Altogether, Burnham's center stands ready to advance the mission of the NIH Roadmap chemical genomics initiative into full production.
About Burnham Institute for Medical ResearchBurnham Institute for Medical Research uses an entrepreneurial, collaborative approach to medical research to reveal the fundamental molecular causes of disease and devise the innovative therapies of tomorrow. The Institute is organized into five research centers focused in the areas of: cancer; neurosciences, aging and stem cell research; infectious and inflammatory diseases; diabetes and obesity; and children's health. Thanks to the quality of its faculty members, Burnham ranks among the top 25 organizations worldwide (according to the Institute for Scientific Information) for its research impact and among the top four research institutes nationally for NIH grant funding. Burnham is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation headquartered in La Jolla, California, with campuses in Orlando, Florida and Santa Barbara, California. For more information, please visit www.burnham.org.
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