Drug Discovery Unit
Scientists in the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases (CARD) are best known for their academic work on the molecular mechanisms that are involved in neurodegeneration, axonal regeneration and pain. The Neuroscience Drug Discovery Unit capitalises on our academic work. We have high throughput screening equipment, dedicated bioinformatics support with a molecular modeling and virtual screening capability and we run a number of in vitro and in vivo assays for target validation.
The ultimate aim is the development of new medicines for neurodegenerative diseases and pain. The director of the unit is Dr Jonathan Corcoran who has been awarded two Wellcome Trust Seeding Drug Discovery grants (a total of over £7.5M) for the development of drugs for Alzheimer’s disease and Spinal Cord Injury. The initiative will allow the College to pursue its commitment to translational research with pharmaceutical partners of excellence, supported by highly productive interactions between academics within the CARD and colleagues within King’s Business.
Drug Discovery Lab
Professor Jonathan Corcoran
Our group is interested in the development of orally available retinoids for the treatment of CNS disorders. We are developing a number of novel retinoid receptor specific agonists and tool compounds to look at the mechanisms of retinoid signalling pathways in Alzheimer’s disease, spinal cord injury and neurogenesis.
Histology Support
Mr Carl Hobbs
Microscopic examination of normal and pathological cells and tissues is essential in the understanding of disease processes. At the Wolfson CARD we utilise a wide range of Histological and Cytological techniques for screening and also in- depth analysis for conditions such as Alzheimer’s Disease.
Bioinformatics
Dr Gareth Williams
My work covers many areas of bioinformatics with particular emphasis on structural biology. Current projects are microarray search engines, protein dynamical simulation and interaction site prediction.
Viral Vector Core
Dr Lawrence Moon
John Grist
Our Viral Vector Core Facility makes lentiviral vectors and adeno-associated viral vectors. This dedicated facility has an ultracentrifuge and all other required equipment to produce high-titer vector.
Related Dementias
Professor Clive Ballard
Professor Paul Francis
A novel model of cortical synuclein diseases has enabled us to identify promising new treatment candidates for Parkinson’s disease and related dementias.