Drug Discovery and Clinical Therapeutics Program
Overview
This program supports research aimed at designing and developing novel research tools (PET, SPECT, and fMRI imaging ligands); developing therapeutic agents for use in basic and clinical studies and for the treatment of mental disorders; and understanding the clinical pharmacologic actions of therapeutic drugs and other treatments at the molecular and cellular level. Supported research includes studies of molecular pharmacology and structural chemistry of CNS receptors, transporters, ion channels, neuropeptides, and neuromodulators; investigations into drug-drug interactions; and identification of pharmacological research tools and preclinical drug discovery. The program also supports the National Cooperative Drug Discovery Groups for the Treatment of Mood Disorders (NCDDG-MD). The NCDDG-MD supports public-private partnerships to accelerate the discovery of new mechanisms of action for therapeutics used for mood disorders; to increase the availability of pharmacologic research tools for basic and clinical research; and to facilitate the development and validation of models to evaluate novel therapeutics in mood disorders.
Areas of Emphasis
- Developing and testing PET/SPECT imaging ligands for targets implicated in mood disorders in proof of concept studies as potential biomarkers of disease state and predictors of therapeutic response.
- Identifying the genetic and molecular mechanisms that contribute to individual differences in drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacologic response in normal humans.
- Establishing proof of concept studies to assess safety and tolerability of novel mechanism of action drugs in normal human subjects, especially drugs in the early stages of development for the treatment of depression and bipolar disorder.
Contact
Linda S. Brady, Ph.D.
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 7204/MSC 9645
301-443-3563, lbrady@mail.nih.gov
