# Structural Biology Shared Service

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · 2024 · $1

## Abstract

20.0 Abstract: Structural Biology Shared Service
The Structural Biology Shared Service (SBSS) assists investigators in the collection and interpretation of
structural biology data derived from three technologies—cryogenic electron microscopy, X-ray crystallography,
and nuclear magnetic resonance—as a value-added means to advance cancer biology research. SBSS
supports users from all five research programs at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum
Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC). The structural biology data from SBSS help investigators derive the
molecular mechanisms of action of cancer-related proteins and enzymes and permit the design of molecular
agents, including molecular probes as drug candidates for research studies and potential cancer treatments.
The three technologies offer complementary approaches to understanding structure and biomolecule
mechanisms of action. The expertise of SBSS leadership directs investigators to the appropriate structural
biology method(s) that will most efficiently address their scientific questions and then provides strategies for
obtaining high-quality analysis. SBSS is heavily used. For example, 18 research groups use two or more
structural analysis methods. SBSS facilitates early-stage UMGCCC drug discovery in cooperation with other
UMGCCC shared services; the Computer Aided Drug Design Center (CADDC), headed by MacKerell (MSB);
and the Center for Biomolecular Therapeutics (CBT), directed by Weber (MSB). The Faculty Oversight
Committee, composed of SBSS users and external reviewers, assesses and provides guidance on current
services and strategic planning. Overall, SBSS provides UMGCCC investigators with access to state-of-the-art
structural biology instrumentation in a collaborative environment that is ideal for basic structure-based drug
design research to enable the advancement of high-impact cancer research and bench-to-bedside success. In
2019 SBSS supported studies by 56 investigators, 40 (71.4%) of whom were affiliated with UMGCCC. In 2019
SBSS supported $17.9 million of UMGCCC funding, all of which was peer reviewed. From 2015 to 2019, SBSS
supported 164 publications including those in high-impact journals such as Science, Cell, PNAS, Nucleic Acids
Research, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and Journal of Molecular Biology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10916317
- **Project number:** 5P30CA134274-17
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE
- **Principal Investigator:** David Joseph Weber
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2008-08-08 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10916317

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10916317, Structural Biology Shared Service (5P30CA134274-17). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10916317. Licensed CC0.

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