Biological Sciences
Our Biological Sciences department includes specialists in virology, biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, pharmacology and bioinformatics. This multidisciplinary team of scientists strives to understand the fundamental biochemical events underlying viral disease pathology. They are responsible for identifying and characterizing new anti-viral targets for drug intervention, developing efficient and innovative methodologies for evaluating drug candidates, and analyzing the potential for the emergence of resistance to new drugs during their clinical use.
We use state-of-the-art biological techniques to identify new viral and host proteins involved in viral disease pathology, and to establish their role in the replication cycle of the virus. Once biologists have identified new targets, they collaborate with scientists in other disciplines to establish strategies to identify molecules that will inhibit these processes.
Our aim is to prevent the virus from replicating, and then implement trials using modern, highly sensitive technologies and robotic instrumentation to enable high throughput discovery of new inhibitors of these processes. Once new drug candidates are identified, their pharmacokinetic and pharmaceutical properties are fully characterized. To permit the safe and secure study of infectious human viruses, the department facilities include state-of-the-art biological containment laboratories.
Did you know...
It costs an average of over $1 billion to bring one new medicine to market?
