Stony Brook Pharmacology Professor Receives Feldstein Medical Foundation Grant
Dr. Markus Seeliger’s project involves experiments and computer simulation to develop novel cancer therapies
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STONY BROOK, N.Y., April 23, 2013 – Markus Seeliger, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacological Sciences at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, has received a $60,000 grant from the Feldstein Medical Foundation to fund a project titled “New tools to hit moving targets in cancer therapy.” The purpose of the project is to use new computer technology to speed up the creation yet reduce the development cost of targeted cancer therapies.
Dr. Seeliger and colleagues have created a new computational method to identify drug binding sites on a cancer-causing signaling protein, Src (sarcoma) kinase. With specialized computer hardware they simulated the entire process of a drug binding to the Src kinase. In the drug development process, drugs often fail late in development because of lacking specificity. Dr. Seeliger reports that their research has identified potential new binding sites that overcome the challenge of generating specific inhibitors of Src kinase. This combined computational and experimental protocol, he says, may help expedite the next generation of potent cancer drugs.
Dr. Seeliger’s laboratory focuses on understanding the molecular mechanism of signaling proteins and how small molecule ligands and drugs can modulate their activity.
The Feinstein Medical Foundation promotes and advances previously neglected areas of medical research, including new and innovative areas and projects in basic science and translational studies.
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