The objective of the Small Molecule Screening Core within the RCE is to support biodefense-relatedresearch directed towards the development of new classes of therapeutic agents capable of interfering withthe activities of biological weapons. A fully automated facility, capable of executing a number of smallmolecule screens, will be established. The Core will occupy newly remodeled space at Harvard MedicalSchool, it will be equipped with the state of the art robotic equipment, and will assemble a number ofsynthetic compound libraries. These resources, together with the expertise of highly trained staff will bemade available to individual investigators within the RCE, as well as to investigators with meritorious,biodefense related projects outside of the New England. The core will interact closely with the Institute ofChemistry and Cell Biology at Harvard, further expanding the core's capabilities. Based on the expertise ofthe Core's staff, a number of diverse, high-throughput screening platforms will be supported, includingwhole bacterial assays, protein enzyme assays, protein-protein or protein-ligand interaction assays, and avariety of cell-based assays using cultured mammalian cells. The Core will assist the investigators infollow-up analysis of compounds using computerized databases, and will help in the development of moreprecisescreens. The long-term objectives of the Core are to promote the development of novel screeningplatforms to meet changing biodefense needs. Moreover, it will serve as a centralized resource for testingalternative natural or synthetic compound libraries as well as promote interactions between RCEinvestigators and medicinal chemists in the development of lead compounds to therapeutic products.Further development of promising compounds will be evaluated in consultation with MAID, interestedindustrial partners, and the NERCE Scientific Steering Committee.
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