# Structural Biology Core

> **NIH NIH U19** · SLOAN-KETTERING INST CAN RESEARCH · 2022 · $1,288,700

## Abstract

Effective structural enablement with short turn-around and
rapid dissemination of well annotated structural data provides significant impact to the hit-to-lead and
lead optimization processes. This has been exemplified by the contribution of Diamond Light Source to
the COVID Moonshot - an open science collaboration that developed a novel non-peptidomimetic small
molecule orally bioavailable SARS-CoV-2 main viral protease (Mpro) inhibitor with potent antiviral
activity starting from a high-throughput fragment screen in less than 12 months. This project has
demonstrated that achieving real-time turnaround of structural data is not only technically feasible, but
scientifically crucial to accelerating compound progression.
Additionally, crystallographic fragment screening is a well-validated method for mapping protein ligand
binding sites and identifying starting points for the development of novel therapeutics for a wide range
of diseases. This technique is highly sensitive and owing to developments in synchrotron technology
plus the establishment of dedicated screening facilities, such as the world-first XChem platform at
Diamond Light Source, the throughput is now comparable to other biophysical techniques such as NMR
and SPR with the advantage that structural information is immediately available to drive fragment-tolead
development.
The Structural Biology Core has been specifically situated at the Diamond Light Source's XChem
facility to capitalize on its world-leading high-throughput crystallography capabilities in order to
implement the logistics and technologies required to consistently achieve the acceleration required to
meet the ASAP AViDD Center's ambitious medicinal chemistry goals.
This core will be responsible for the successful delivery of crystallographic fragment screens, the rapid
turn-around of protein-ligand crystal structures for all compounds generated by this center and ensuring
all crystal structures are promptly available, at high quality and fully annotated, in the public domain.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10513867
- **Project number:** 1U19AI171399-01
- **Recipient organization:** SLOAN-KETTERING INST CAN RESEARCH
- **Principal Investigator:** John Damon Chodera
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $1,288,700
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-05-16 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10513867

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10513867, Structural Biology Core (1U19AI171399-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10513867. Licensed CC0.

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