Bridging Discovery and Impact
The Wistar Institute Launches Center for Advanced Therapeutics led by Dr. Paul Lieberman
On September 25th, the Center for Advanced Therapeutics officially opened. This Center complements Wistar’s three existing research centers, the recently launched HIV Cure and Viral Disease Center, the Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center, and the Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center, by accelerating the translation of basic scientific discoveries made at Wistar into clinically relevant technologies that will affect the lives of real patients.
Led by Dr. Paul Lieberman, inaugural director of the Center for Advanced Therapeutics and Hilary Koprowski, M.D., Endowed Professor, the Center will guide the direction of future research and collaboration at Wistar so Wistar scientists can make the most of the resources at their disposal to advance promising diagnostic methods and medicines that can have an impact around the globe.
Wistar received a $30M gift from an anonymous donor – the largest in Institute history – to establish and build the new Center. In addition, The Pew Charitable Trusts awarded a $1 million grant to support Wistar’s appointment of Lieberman as director and enable the recruitment of new staff.
Pointing Research in the Right Direction
The goal of all research at Wistar is to lead to treatments and interventions that solve some of the world’s most challenging and important problems in the fields of cancer, immunology, and infectious diseases. To accomplish this, researchers focus their efforts and resources where they will matter most.
“The Center brings together a multi-disciplinary team of chemists, biologists and development partners” explained Dr. Lieberman. “Together, they’ll work to identify new opportunities for therapeutic intervention through an accelerated pipeline of biology to chemistry to clinically relevant technologies that improve patient care and enhance human health.”
The main focus of the Center, therefore, is to bring in the expertise to guide and to develop the collaborations and partnerships needed to steer the resulting research from bench to bedside.
Assembling Top Personnel and Expertise
To achieve its aims, the Center brings together complementary expertise to function as what Dr. Lieberman calls an “accelerating engine.” The 12,000 square foot state-of-the-art space will house six core investigators whose specialties span the discovery-to-development pipeline and, together, will advance the targets, antibodies, and biologicals developed in Wistar’s labs into early-stage clinical trials.
Forming the chemistry component of this “engine,” Dr. Joseph Salvino provides essential medicinal chemistry expertise, while research associate professor Dr. Troy Messick contributes structure-based drug design experience and critical knowledge of regulatory pathways for moving small molecules through FDA approval processes. Together, they set the foundation for transforming promising biological targets into actual drug candidates.
Working hand in hand with the chemistry team, Dr. Jessie Villanueva brings deep understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind drug resistance—knowledge crucial for designing therapies that can overcome cancer’s ability to evade treatment. Senior staff scientist Samantha Soldan is also part of the effort to identify disease and target efforts; she leads the Center’s expansion into autoimmune diseases, particularly multiple sclerosis, thereby opening new therapeutic frontiers beyond Wistar’s traditional cancer-centric areas of focus.
Finally, the Center’s interdisciplinary approach extends to Dr. Ian Tietjen, who specializes in natural product discovery, tapping into nature’s vast chemical library to identify novel therapeutic compounds that might otherwise be overlooked.
Under Dr. Lieberman’s direction, this core team will assist in recruiting and integrating the missing piece of the puzzle: a cadre of computational chemists and biologists who will serve to bridge all of these disciplines and make efficient use of the vast quantities of data they produce. Using artificial intelligence and machine learning, these computational specialists will help answer the fundamental question that keeps researchers awake at night: “Of all our promising targets, which ones should we pursue?”
By combining wet lab expertise with computational analysis, the full team will share in decision making and direction setting to ensure every research dollar and hour is invested where it will have maximum impact.
Moving Discoveries from Bench to Bedside
The Center’s mission is to build a strong foundation and pipeline for identifying and taking first steps toward developing new, successful therapeutics. “The Center will hopefully help people identify what is, in fact, really the best starting point and the best trajectory to get to what will be a successful potential drug that would appeal broadly to many pharmaceutical companies,” says Dr. Lieberman. These ambitions are supported by the endowed Wistar Science Discovery Fund, which provides both pilot and advanced funds to attract applications from investigators working at various timepoints throughout the drug discovery process.
Along with funds, the Center will supply the necessary guidance and expertise to help the researcher make informed decisions about advancing to the next step. For instance, if a researcher has an idea for a promising new target, the Center will facilitate their progress through screening and regulatory affairs. It will connect them with experts at Wistar, such as Dr. Heather Steinman, the Senior Vice President for Business Development and Executive Director of Technology Transfer, who can help connect them to the right partners that enable them to answer the questions: Is there a market for this? Is there a place where this drug or approach or diagnostic will eventually find a home? If so, how do we pursue that in the most efficient, cost-effective way?
Partnership and Collaboration
Because Wistar’s strength is in foundational research, the key to the Center’s success in taking nascent technologies to the next level is forming collaborations with industry. This begins with determining what industry players need from and value in an academic partner.
“We need to have better communication with industry, the receivers of the technology we’re developing, to understand their needs, what’s missing on their end, and what academia can bring to them,” says Dr. Lieberman.
The Center is already in the process of forming collaborations that will accomplish these aims. The Philadelphia Drug Discovery Forum (PDDF) is one such effort. This series of bimonthly symposia brings together scientists from academia, biopharma, and government to encourage networking, spark new ideas, and fuel collaborations that will lead to accelerated drug discovery. Both the PDDF and the Center itself benefit from Wistar’s geographic placement amid some of the best universities in the country, with easy access to renowned academic institutions in the greater Philadelphia region, New Jersey, Maryland, and even mid-Atlantic hubs like Pittsburgh. Furthermore, the Center is uniquely situated within reach of many cell therapy and other pharmaceutical leaders, increasing the potential for deep collaborations that will advance the Center’s mission.
Looking Forward
The Center for Advanced Therapeutics is well positioned to build upon the strong research Wistar already produces. The Institute is home to a plethora of diverse talent across numerous disciplines, much of which is still untapped. These outstanding investigators have developed models, systems, and focus areas that will benefit from a Center that helps them best allocate their resources to pursue the most promising research directions and supports them throughout the process.
“The Center gives us a way to give back to patients,” says Dr. Lieberman, “to hopefully make our research programs that much more impactful, that much more meaningful.”
Help Accelerate Wistar Science
Interested in learning more about how you can help bring Wistar discoveries one step closer to real-world application? There are two ways you can support the work of the Center for Advanced Therapeutics.
- The endowed Wistar Science Discovery Fund generates annual support for the sole purpose of advancing discoveries and developing new therapeutic and diagnostic approaches with a high potential for translation and commercialization. This endowment is a critical and flexible resource that Wistar’s Center for Advanced Therapeutics will rely on to fund new high-risk, high-reward research projects as well as advance existing Wistar discoveries towards clinical trials.
- A vital part of Wistar’s Center for Advanced Therapeutics’ drug development activities involves establishing relationships and embarking on strategic projects with industry partners. Wistar’s new Collaborative BioVentures Fund is designed with this in mind, as a source of dedicated seed funding for exploratory and early-stage collaborative projects with industry partners that align with and advance Wistar research.
Donate online today or notify the Development team at development@wistar.org of an incoming gift from your Donor Advised fund, IRA or other gift vehicle. Every gift matters!
