Congratulations to Moustafa Gabr, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Chemistry in Radiology at the Molecular Imaging Innovations Institute, on his recent National Institutes of Health R01 grant: "Optimization of small molecule immunomodulators as combination therapy for IBD."
"There is an urgent need to identify effective immunotherapies for inflammatory bowel disease," says Dr. Gabr. "This R01 grant will support our research to achieve small molecule-based modulation of the activity of two immune checkpoints—inducible T-cell costimulation (ICOS) and the cluster of differentiation antigen (CD28)—that have overlapping roles in IBD pathogenesis."
Notably, the Gabr Lab pioneered the discovery of first-in-class small molecules targeting immune checkpoints. Building on that research, they’ve now developed Small Molecules from Antibody Pharmacophores (SMAPs), an innovative platform that identifies small molecule inhibitors of immune cell receptors. Using SMAPs, the Gabr Lab hopes to pave the way for investigational new drug-enabling studies, which, in turn, might lead to relief for patients struggling with inflammatory bowel disease.