Cancer is a significant public health challenge affecting millions of people and placing a considerable burden on the healthcare system. Despite the tremendous advances made in cancer research, many types of cancer remain untreatable, and there is a continuous and urgent need for cancer therapeutics. High-throughput screening of small molecules is an effective drug discovery approach used for the identification of hit compounds and their optimization for improved characteristics. However, readily accessible high-throughput instrument suites in academic settings are not common. Texas A&M University is one such institution that lacks an openly accessible high-throughput screening facility for ...

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Cancer is a significant public health challenge affecting millions of people and placing a considerable burden on the healthcare system. Despite the tremendous advances made in cancer research, many types of cancer remain untreatable, and there is a continuous and urgent need for cancer therapeutics. High-throughput screening of small molecules is an effective drug discovery approach used for the identification of hit compounds and their optimization for improved characteristics. However, readily accessible high-throughput instrument suites in academic settings are not common. Texas A&M University is one such institution that lacks an openly accessible high-throughput screening facility for small molecule-based drug discovery. The current proposal aims to address this gap by acquiring a high-throughput screening instrument suite from Beckman Coulter through funding from the CPRIT TREC: Major Instrument Program. This instrument suite will be set up in the Texas A&M Drug Discovery Laboratory (TAMDDL) and will be operated by a group of scientists with strong expertise to provide services to researchers at the Bryan-College Station campus of Texas A&M University. This availability of this instrument suite will allow launching research projects to identify small molecule therapeutics for various cancers, such as acute myeloid leukemia, colorectal cancer, castration-resistant prostate cancer, liver cancer, and cancer metastasis by targeting a variety of targets including proteins, RNA, and also engineered cancer models. The successful acquisition of this instrument suite will potentially elevate Texas A&M University at Bryan-College Station as a powerhouse for innovation in cancer therapeutic development and drive the Brazos Valley as a true Texas Regional Excellence in Cancer.

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