Emory Center for New Medicines
Emory Launches Center for New Medicines to Accelerate Development of Life-Saving Medications
Emory University’s School of Medicine is embarking on a groundbreaking new initiative to develop a drug discovery pipeline for translating fundamental biological discoveries into the next generation of life-saving treatments.
Announced during the recent 2024 Emory Drug Discovery and Development (3D) Symposium, the Center for New Medicines (CNM) will serve as an integrated one-stop hub of advanced technology, infrastructure and resources where scientists and physicians can work together to identify unmet medical needs and create solutions to improve health outcomes across a number of key disease areas.
Tyler S. Beyett, PhD, and Yong Wan, PhD, faculty members in the Pharmacology and Chemical Department, were highlighted by the Winship Cancer Institute for their work translating discoveries into new cancer therapies.
Awards and Recognitions
Emory SOM Faculty Recognitions Week
Several faculty from Pharmacology and Chemical Biology were recognized during the Emory University School of Medicine's 2024 Faculty Recognitions Week.
John R. Hepler, PhD
John R. Hepler, PhD, was recognized for his 2023 election as a Fellow in the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET).
Selection as a Fellow of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (FASPET) is an honor bestowed to our most distinguished members. Fellows are recognized for their meritorious efforts to advance pharmacology, through their scientific achievements, mentorship, and service to the Society. Candidates should consider the advancement to Fellow status as a request to become more actively engaged in the Society.
Edward T. Morgan, PhD
Edward T. Morgan, PhD, was recognized for receiving the 2024 Bernard B. Brodie Award in Drug Metabolism and Disposition from ASPET. The Bernard B. Brodie Award in Drug Metabolism and Disposition has been established to honor the fundamental contributions of Bernard B. Brodie in the field of drug metabolism and disposition.
Thota Ganesh, PhD
Thota Ganesh, PhD, was awarded Grant of Tenure. In addition to being associate professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, Dr. Ganesh is a also member of the Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics Research Program at Winship Cancer Institute.
The overall goal of Dr. Ganesh's research is to work with disease oriented biomedical research investigators to develop small molecule drugs for a variety of medically unmet central nervous system and peripheral diseases. He is also interested in developing novel small molecule therapeutic agents to treat Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy.
Stephen F. Traynelis, PhD
Stephen F. Traynelis, PhD, won the Emory School of Medicine Innovation Impact Award (one of only 2 winners)
Dr. Stephen Traynelis’ research over the past 30 years has focused on many different forms of ligand gated ion channels, with particular emphasis on glutamate receptors. Dr. Traynelis has provided considerable insight into the roles of these receptors in synaptic function, brain ischemia, epilepsy, schizophrenia, and Parkinson's disease. Some of these findings led directly to Dr. Traynelis’ co-founding of a company (NeurOp Inc) that has translated an understanding of NMDA receptor modulation into the development of neuroprotective agents that act at high potency in regions of injury with minimal side effects in healthy tissue. His work has led to 11 issued patents, with others pending, and the development of multiple new drug candidates that have entered clinical trials. Dr. Traynelis has written sophisticated analysis and mathematical modeling software that has been used by nearly 100 laboratories worldwide. His lab was the first to identify highly selective modulators for NMDA receptors that contain the GluN2C or GluN2D subunits and determine in detail their mechanisms of action. Dr. Traynelis has also been an exceptional mentor to more than 100 trainees, many of whom have gone on to illustrious careers in research.
Ellen J. Hess, PhD
Ellen J. Hess, PhD, received the Emory School of Medicine Hidden Gem Award for 2024.
Besides running a vibrant research program studying the pathophysiology of dystonia, Dr. Ellen Hess is an exemplary citizen of the Emory community. Dr. Hess is first to help when needed and is a leader in the Neuroscience (NS) and Pharmacology (MSP) graduate programs. Ellen has served for many years on the NS Executive Committee including as Chair of the Admissions. When asked, Ellen took on the very demanding job of NS Program Director. Ellen also is an outstanding educator teaching extensively in both the MSP and NS programs. She has served as Course Director for the MSP grant writing class and as Co-Course director for the NS program Professional Development course guiding young students early in their careers. After stepping down from these roles, she recently very graciously volunteered to step back in and help younger faculty with the Admissions committee and the grant writing class. Dr. Hess established the Emory HPLC Bioanalytical Core, where she serves as Scientific Director. Most recently, Dr. Hess also successfully was awarded an NIH T32 training grant (Biological Discovery through Chemical Innovation) for graduate and postdoctoral training, where she serves as PI. Dr. Ellen Hess is a rare colleague who is recognized for her exemplary service and leadership to the Emory SOM and larger community.
Dr. R. Donald Harvey Appointed Vice President for Clinical Research
R. Donald Harvey, PharmD, Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology with a joint appointment in the Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology at Emory University School of Medicine, has been appointed Vice President for Clinical Research (VPCR). Dr. Harvey is Executive Director of the Woodruff Industry Sponsored Clinical Trials.
As VPCR, Dr. Harvey will be responsible for advancing Emory’s reputation as an international leader in industry-sponsored clinical trials; continuing to build and align our clinical trial infrastructure; fostering partnerships and collaborations among faculty and staff; and growing research and scholarship aimed at attracting and engaging the next generation of leaders. Dr. Harvey will also be part of the leadership team within the Office of the Senior VP for Research and will work in partnership with the Vice President for Research Administration to optimize clinical trial initiation and growth.
10 Scientists to Watch List
Dionna Williams, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, has been honored by Science News as one of the 10 top young scientists in the country (“10 Scientists to Watch” list). Dr. Williams joined Pharmacology and Chemical Biology January 2024 from Johns Hopkins University.
2024 SOM Researcher Appreciation Day
Yong Wan, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology and Winship Cancer Institute member, was recognized for the 2024 Emory School of Medicine Researcher Appreciation Day.
Dr. Wan leads a globally recognized research program that investigates the roles of posttranslational modifications (PTMs) in biology and human diseases. Dr. Wan's recent paradigm-shifting discovery of PTM mechanisms that control immune checkpoint proteins will accelerate the development of the next generation of anticancer immunotherapeutic agents.
Research Updates
PhCB Faculty Research Accelerator Award
Pharmacology and Cell Biology announced the 2024 PhCB Researcher Accelerator Awards. Recipients are Pharmacology and Chemical Biology assistant professors Nicholas Varvel, PhD and Xiulei Mo PhD. The PhCB Researcher Awards recognize excellence in research, accelerate academic development, and aid faculty in building high impact research programs. Recipients are awarded $50k each.
Ganesh Lab
Thota Ganesh, PhD, Associate Professor or Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, was awarded a 5-year NIH grant, "Development of EP2 Receptor Antagonist to Treat Alzheimer's Disease". Collaborators are Dr. Paul Territo at Indiana University and Pyrefin, Inc.
Emory News Center
Golde Lab
New Publication:
Todd E. Golde, MD, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, and Yona Levites, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, published a paper, "Integrative proteomics identifies a conserved Aβ amyloid responsome, novel plaque proteins, and pathology modifiers in Alzheimer’s disease," in Cell Reports Medicine.
Drs. Golde and Levites explain how the amyloid beta deposits long known to build up in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients serve as a kind of scaffold for the accumulation of other proteins. Because many of these proteins have known signaling functions, their presence around the amyloid accumulations, known as plaques, could be the culprit causing brain cell damage rather than the amyloid itself. These findings are challenging existing theories about the origins of Alzheimer’s, the leading cause of dementia in the elderly worldwide. Drs. Golde and Levites are members of the Goizueta Brain Health Institute.
New Multi-PI NIH Grant:
Congratulations to the Golde lab group on their NIH grant, “Searching for the Goldilocks Zone of Innate Immunity in Alzheimer's Disease,” a multi-PI award with Dr. Yona Levites, Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, and Dr. Matthew Rowan, Assistant Professor of Cell Biology.
Traynelis Lab
The labs of Stephen F. Traynelis, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, and Dennis C. Liotta, PhD, Department of Chemistry and the Winship Cancer Institute, published a paper, "Molecular mechanism of ligand gating and opening of NMDA receptor," in in Nature.
Wan Lab
Yong Wan, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology and member of the Winship Cancer Institute, published a paper, "Tuning Immune-Cold Tumor by Suppressing USP10/B7-H4 Proteolytic Axis Reinvigorates Therapeutic Efficacy of ADCs," in Advanced Science, August 2024.
Authors include: Lidan Zeng, Yueming Zhu, Xin Cui, Junlong Chi, Amad Uddin, Zhuan Zhou, Xinxin Song, Mingji Dai, Massimo Cristofanilli, Kevin Kalinsky, and Yong Wan*.
