Dr. Mobashery hopes to facilitate collaboration among scientists for maximum research potential.

When scientists work in isolation, they may better understand specific molecular subtleties, cellular mechanisms, or protein properties. When scientists work together, they may discover important pharmacologic interactions, genetic significance, or even new drug therapies. Although traditional disciplines are still an absolutely essential part of scientific discovery, the combination and cross-training among these disciplines ultimately brings the greatest research rewards.

With that in mind, the Wayne State University School of Medicine has invested in the development of an Institute for Drug Design. The institute’s goal is to create synergy between scientists with related research interests and to unite their efforts for maximum impact.

Shahriar Mobashery, PhD, has been named director of the Institute for Drug Design, which is expected to be officially approved by the university’s Board of Governors soon. He is a professor of chemistry, pharmacology, and biochemistry and molecular biology. He is excited about the prospect of a more systematic, thorough, scientifically-based testing center for new drug therapies and pharmacologic agents and techniques. Although development of the institute does not mean the university is competing directly with drug companies, it does mean that academic researchers are cementing and formalizing relationships with pharmaceutical researchers in mutually beneficial partnerships.

 “Scientists inside and outside universities have much to share with and much to gain from one another. It’s a partnership that people are getting more comfortable with. It’s a partnership that makes sense,” said Dr. Mobashery.

Another key mission of the institute is to foster training and recruitment of life scientists. The Institute for Drug Design hopes to train researchers in areas across the full gamut of expertise including molecular biology, chemistry, computation and statistics, structural biology, drug metabolism, pharmacology, genomics and more. Attracting investigator training grants will be of primary concern as demand grows for experts in these areas.

The institute will be launched in the next few months with the appointment of approximately 30 internal faculty members who already have primary appointments in other departments. Dr. Thomas Uhde, associate dean for research and graduate programs at the School of Medicine, notes that physical distance between scientists has traditionally been a huge impediment to collaboration. The chemistry department and cancer biology department may be only six blocks away, for example, but it may as well be 60 miles if it impedes regular interaction and communication, he says.

“The Institute for Drug Design is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary center that will provide outstanding opportunities for scientists to collaborate with one another and to initiate new research programs,” said Dr. Uhde.

Long-time partnership proves fruitful
Institute for Drug Design to nurture more research partnerships

Drs. Fridman and Mobashery have used their individual research interests to embark on an exciting collaborative partnership.

Dr. Mobashery, director of the Institute for Drug Design, uses his own research career as a prime example of the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. “I was doing interesting work, but I couldn’t take it to the next level without some further help,” he said.

The researchers in Dr. Mobashery’s laboratory had been concerned primarily with the enzymatic processes involving bacterial proteins and antibacterial agents; however, Dr. Mobashery was always interested in studying matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), a family of enzymes degrading extracellular matrices. From his office in the chemistry building, he heard about a new researcher named Rafael Fridman, a professor in the pathology department, who was studying MMPs and their role in cancer metastasis. They began working together five years ago, and have since published more than 10 important research papers. Their most recent publication in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, describes a novel molecule that selectively inhibits gelatinases, two members of the MMP family linked to cancer growth, angiogenesis and metastasis.

Drs. Mobashery and Fridman have taken the next step and sought the help of Ralph Parchment, who studies pharmacokinetics in the department of internal medicine, and Fred Miller from the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute. “We had ideas very specific to these enzymes involved in tumor metastasis,” said Dr. Mobashery. “But we don’t know much about the complications surrounding metabolism and other areas. Now, we want to see how the novel inhibitor works in animal models of cancer.”

If all goes well, they will continue building bridges with researchers at the Karmanos Cancer Institute who can test these MMP inhibitory drugs through the use of breast and prostate cancer models currently available at Karmanos. With even more connections and collaborations, they could eventually conduct human clinical trials in the near future if the animal and pharmacological studies are promising.

“A lone scientist may generate great data,” said Dr. Mobashery, “but it takes many scientists to collectively build on that data and generate useful therapeutics. This philosophy works and will be central to the new Institute for Drug Design.”