Principal Investigator (PI)
The Foundation is providing £145,000 in support.
Dr. Saki Raheem
GSK provides in-kind contributions (including facilities and expertise from supporting scientists for HTS and access to the compounds library).
Despite major advances in high-throughput screening and genomic technologies, TB drug development remains hindered by a general inability to measure the penetration of a given compound into Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Over the past years researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have developed a set of analytical methods and tools capable of capturing and enumerating the intracellular small molecule inventory of Mtb (metabolome). Utilization of this platform to monitor intracellular accumulation of current drugs has revealed an unexpected dissociation between cell permeability and anti-mycobacterial activity.
Access to GSK’s chemical library will allow us to screen different classes of compounds against TB, using metabolomics technology developed by Weill Cornell Medical College. As a result, we will create a centralized data repository of mycobacterial permeability data that will contribute to development of next generation of anti-TB drugs and fundamental knowledge of Mtb metabolomics. (Dr. Saki Raheem, Open Lab Scientist)