Grant: Engage Grants Program

Small molecule drugs occupy the largest space among currently used clinical therapeutics. With the advent ofdrug resistance in many diseases, development of new, more effective and safe small molecule drugs hasbecome more relevant than ever. Such need is most pronounced for various forms of cancer where an effectivecure is still elusive. Paraza Pharma, Inc. is an innovative company with an aim to significantly improve theefficiency of the drug discovery process from lead identification through lead optimization to developmentcandidates. Paraza noticed the results obtained by the Jha research group at Acadia on curcumin (a naturalproduct) analogs having excellent anticancer, antioxidant and tumor-suppressing properties. They wish tofurther profile these molecules against several biomarkers using proprietary mass spectrometry-basedtechnique. The project will involve synthesis of the potential drug candidates (12 target compounds) at Acadiaand their MS-based profiling of candidate drugs against biomarker at Paraza. The HQP working on this willgain experience in drug design, synthetic chemistry and performing MS-based biomarker profilingexperiments. We hope to be able to identify a lead compound for further development at the end of this project.