National Institutes Of Health NIH Chemical Genomics Center

Tell me something about the National Institute of Health (NIH) Chemical Genomics Center ?

[Kiran Chandar]

The National Institutes Of Health (NIH) Chemical Genomics Center (NCGC) was founded in 2004 as a Comprehensive Screening Center. The goals of NCGC in the NCATS Division of Pre-Clinical Innovation are to translate the discoveries of the Human Genome Project into biological and disease insights and ultimately new therapeutics for human disease through small molecule assay development, high-throughput screening, cheminformatics and chemistry.

NCGC programs include

Assay Development and High-Throughput Screening:
The goal of the NCGC Assay Biology Teams in the NCATS Division of Pre-Clinical Innovation is to optimize biochemical, cellular and model organism-based assays requested or submitted by the biomedical research community for high-throughput small molecule screening.

Chemistry Technology:
Biomedical research functions most efficiently when chemistry and biology are intertwining disciplines with common focus and goals.

RNAi :
Gene silencing through RNA interference (RNAi) has emerged as a powerful tool for understanding gene function. RNAi screens have illuminated a wide variety of biological processes, ranging from genes that affect the activity of therapeutic agents to novel components of signaling pathways.

Toxicology in the 21st Century (Tox21) :
The Toxicology in the 21st Century (Tox21) program, a federal collaboration involving the NIH, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is aimed at developing better toxicity assessment methods.

Chemistry at NCGC is build upon enthusiastic collaboration between all departments fostered by the project team paradigm. Academic freedom coupled with industry resources and experience means:

Frequent interaction with scientific community, including leaders in academia and industry, access to the vast resources of the NIH, and open opportunities for publication and creativity

Dedicated and dynamic informatics resources for efficient data analysis and visualization
Dedicated analytical resources to ensure the highest quality of compound data

Latest tools available for efficient parallel synthesis and strong support from engineering to automate and streamline processes

Informatics at the NCGC include: hardware and software solutions for assay design, qHTS analysis, computational chemistry, modeling and compound management, novel algorithm and tool development, integral part of project teams, close collaboration with biologists and chemists, and “build, buy, and integrate” approach to analysis systems.