Nebraska Pediatric Drug Discovery Group

The major goal of the Nebraska Pediatric Drug Discovery Group (NPDDG) is to develop small molecules that bind to, inactivate, or degrade fusion oncoproteins that drive pediatric cancer by functioning as regulators of transcription.

We have assembled a team that will focus on the discovery and development of small molecule modulators that perturb fusion oncoproteins that drive pediatric cancers. The team brings expertise in viz., CHemoINformatics (CHIN), Medicinal Chemistry & Chemical Biology (MCCB), Hit-to-Lead Characterization Core (H2LCC) and Cancer Cell & Molecular Biology (CCMB) to NPDDG. The multidisciplinary team, will enable the development of a therapeutic pipeline to accelerate drug discovery focused on developing NCEs that target fusion oncoproteins.

The assembled investigators are experts in protein folding, virtual screening, neural network methods to integrate heterogenous data (CHIN), hit-to-lead optimization, structure-activity-relationship studies, lead optimization, photocrosslinkable and clickable probes (MCCB), structural biology, biophysics, pharmacokinetics, toxicity, chemical proteomics (H2LCC), mechanism-based assay design and development, animal models of fusion oncoprotein driven pediatric cancer models, and pediatric oncology (CCMB). This group of investigators have published together and are PIs on a total of 16 R01/R00 grants (CA197999, CA226436, CA244900, CA250383, CA260749, CA263504, CA276846, GM136859, GM138920, GM141232, GM145647, HD106590, NS106879, NS116037, NS119266, and NS127439), thus demonstrating the cohesive nature and the high scientific caliber. Please note: Drs. Hopkins, Natarajan, & Trippier (MCCB) are listed as inventors on a combined 41 patents, thus demonstrating their ability to develop intellectual property (IP).