? MEDICINAL AND SYNTHETIC CHEMISTRY CORE The Medicinal and Synthetic Chemistry Core (ChemCore) is a shared resource facility that provides chemistry services to enable translational programs to advance small molecule candidates from chemical biology to drug discovery. ChemCore supports investigators of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCC), Northwestern University, and external organizations by providing advanced cheminformatics and chemical synthesis services. Cheminformatics utilizes many techniques and tools to perform computational chemistry, molecular modeling, and computer-aided drug design techniques. This service provides investigators with unique insights into the design of molecules that are active in cancer biology and guides the selection of candidates that can be synthesized and evaluated for their biological activities. Chemical synthesis provides researchers with access to high-level resources for the custom synthesis of molecular probes and tools, compounds, hit-to-lead chemistry, lead optimization medicinal chemistry, and consulting on drug discovery projects. The ChemCore?s scientific team consists of PhD-level staff chemists with significant experience in pharmaceutical drug discovery. The facility is equipped with modern medicinal chemistry equipment and advanced computational and visualization resources that enable industry-level projects spanning early stages of drug discovery through lead optimization. The daily interaction of computational and medicinal chemists with cancer biologists and clinicians is an essential feature of the core that has contributed to the success of translational projects at the LCC. We have engaged LCC investigators to forge new interdisciplinary research projects and pursue molecular medicine opportunities. During the current funding period, 47 LCC members utilized ChemCore services to investigate the interactions between small molecules and biological systems. We have synthesized and tested more than 1,000 new compounds for nearly 30 different cancer therapeutic projects. ChemCore works closely with several other LCC-supported cores, particularly with the High Throughput Analysis Laboratory (to identify ?hits? via high throughput screening campaigns) and the Developmental Therapeutics Core (to evaluate small molecule candidates in appropriate animal models). The long range goal of ChemCore is to serve as one of the principle conduits by which LCC investigators translate their basic research into new therapeutics.
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