Founded in 2024, The Center for New Medicines (CNM) aims to harness the plethora of discoveries from across the Emory ecosystem to accelerate them into the early stages of drug development.
CNM Co-Director Haian Fu, PhD explains, "our goal is to build an integrated hub of resources and infrastructure to maximize intellectual property development at Emory and enable Emory researchers to leverage their basic discoveries into the next generation of life-saving medicines."
Now, CNM has selected its inaugural cohort of eight therapeutic research projects, chosen from 32 proposals, for their innovation and potential for clinical impact. Each project will receive funding and strategic support throughout its development, as part of CNM's commitment to advancing translational research at Emory.
"The Center for New Medicines epitomizes our tripartite mission of education, research and patient care" says Sandra Wong, dean of the Emory school of medicine and internal advisor for CNM "By providing infrastructure, opportunities, and resources, we can empower our young discovery scientists and bolster Emory's vibrant innovative ecosystem."
These projects, chosen by an independent selection committee, including key stakeholders from OTT, GRA, and EDDF, represent a promising beginning for CNM's translational pipeline—and a larger movement to reimagine how academia can drive therapeutic innovation from bench to breakthrough.
Highlights from several projects selected for support include:
- Chunhui Xu is leveraging a unique human-derived disease model (hiPSC-CMs) to discover novel therapeutics that protect cardiomyocytes against toxicity caused by chemotherapy (among others). These human-derived models are powerful tools for drug discovery and development, especially in light of recent guidance from the NIH and FDA on the use of animal models in research.
- Steve Traynelis' project embodies the power of basic science research to untangle underlying mechanisms that can ultimately advance drug discovery and development. Although the Traynelis Lab has studied and developed selective NMDA modulators for several years, their recent work has provided fundamental, mechanistic insights that have "cracked open" their approach to develop a treatment for anxiety, schizophrenia, and postpartum depression.
- Rafi Ahmed is capitalizing on a recent, unexpected discovery of the key drivers of long-term T-cell memory. Rafi's group proposes to develop novel biologics (a new modality for the CNM pipeline) that leverage these discoveries to ultimately enhance T-cell immunotherapy. This project is a great illustration of CNM's goal of leveraging fundamental biological insights towards the clinic.
CNM has also selected the following high-impact projects in their therapeutic pipeline:
- Mingji Dai - Development of small molecule CaV3.2 inhibitors for treatment of osteoarthritis pain
- Andrey Ivanov - Developing PPI disruptors to overcome acquired resistance to EGFR therapy in lung cancer
- Dennis Liotta - Development of Novel Cannabinoid Derived Therapeutics for the Treatment of Refractory Epilepsy
- Xiulei Mo - Discovery of first-in-class inhibitors of the SMAD4/TGFβ signaling pathway
- Yong Wan - Targeting N-glycans pathway as a new immunomodulatory anti-cancer therapy
Building on Emory's rich history of pioneering breakthroughs, CNM's inaugural cohort of projects addresses the need for improved therapeutics across the spectrum of health care, while providing strategic resources to the next generation of drug discovery investigators.
Co-Director Dennis Liotta, who is also a Winship Cancer Institute researcher, adds, "we aim to equip and empower Emory researchers by leveraging our experience and providing training, resources and mentorship. The center will serve as a nexus for Emory talent, driving forward the frontiers of biomedical research to catalyze the development of new medicines."
