Neil Carragher Research Group

Drug Discovery

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N.Carragher
Professor Neil Carragher - Professor of Drug Discovery

Research in a Nutshell 

The Edinburgh Drug Discovery group embraces advanced technology platforms and disease models, which drive innovations in oncology drug discovery and development. Our group is highly proficient in image-based phenotypic screening working in close collaboration with several pharmaceutical industry partners and academic groups to identify hit molecules, advance small-molecule lead generation and classify compound mechanism of action (MOA). Our laboratories are equipped with the latest kinetic (IncuCyte s3®) and high-content (ImageXpress-micoXLS, ImageXpress-confocal HT.ai and fast light-sheet oblique plane microscopy) screening platforms, fully integrated with plate-handling robotics, barcode sample tracking, image analysis and artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) workflows. We are founding members of the European Cell-Based Assay Interest group (http://www.eucai.org), and together with the Universities of Oxford and Dundee, we are the third major academic hub for the National Phenotypic Screening Centre (http://npsc.ac.uk/). We also incorporate Reverse Phase Protein Array (RPPA) and NanoString analysis to support biomarker discovery and drug MOA studies at the transcriptomic and post-translational pathway levels.

The overarching aims of our group are to enhance clinical predictivity of preclinical oncology drug discovery and improve patient stratification and efficacy, by applying an evidence-led translational research platform, incorporating disease relevant models, innovative chemical design, quantitative imaging, genomic/proteomic-discovery-informatics and AI/ML tools. To achieve these goals we work in close collaboration with local clinicians, multidisciplinary academic research groups and industry partners.

 

Research Programme

 

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Neil Carragher group September 2023

People

 
Neil CarragherPrincipal Investigator, Professor of Drug Discovery and Director of Edinburgh Cancer Discovery Unit
John DawsonDeputy Leader of Phenotypic Screening
Richard ElliottHead of High-throughput Screening
Alison MunroLaboratory Manager (HTPU Microarray Services)
Jayne CulleyResearch Assistant
Martin LeeImaging Engineer (joint with Val Brunton)
Alex LoftusPost Doc (joint with Margaret Frame)
Mitch FosterECAT Fellow
Becka HughesPost Doc
Mungo HarveyPhD Student
Vanessa Smer-BarretoXDF Fellow
Nhan PhamSenior Drug Screening Scientist (joint with Siddharthan Chandran)
Rod CarterResearch Scientist (joint with Siddharthan Chandran)
Steve ShaveResearch Fellow

Contact

PA : jan.irvine@ed.ac.uk

 

 

Collaborations

  • AstraZeneca
  • Radius Health Inc.
  • Carrick Therapeutics
  • Eli Lilly
  • Janssen
  • National Phenotypic Screening Centre: www.npsc.org
  • European Cell-based Assay Interest group: www.eucai.org
  • Global RPPA society: http://capmm.gmu.edu/2015-rppa-globalworkshop-home
  • Asier Unciti-Broceta: Innovative Therapeutics Group
  • Steve Pollard Group 
  • Margaret Frame: Cancer Biology Group
  • Val Brunton: Cancer Therapeutics Group

Partners and Funders

  • AstraZeneca
  • Radius Health Inc.
  • Carrick therapeutics
  • Eli Lilly
  • Janssen
  • EPSRC Research Grant (2016) (Unciti-Broceta, Patton, Leung, Carragher) Palladium-activated prodrug therapy: a novel focal therapy for localised cancers of unmet need (5YR): £1,074,212
  • Wellcome Trust ISSF (Jan 2016 –Jan 2017) (Von-Kriegsheim, Carragher and Wills). Drug target deconvolution platform. (1YR): £54,368 + in-kind coallboration with Medimmune
  • Brain Tumour Charity Quest for Cures award (2016) (Pollard Dirks, Brennan, Helin and Carragher). Chromatin proteins as drug targets for glioblastoma. Research funding (5YR): £1,481,356
  • Mechanistically informed Phenotypic Screening to Advance New Therapeutic Treatments for Oesophageal Cancer Patients £104,483

Scientific Themes

Drug Discovery, Phenotypic Screening, Glioma, Esophageal cancer, breast cancer

Technology Expertise

High content imaging, image-analysis, image-informatics, Reverse phase protein array