Efforts continue under $11.2 million NIH COBRE Grant as center transitions to Phase II

^{Posted on: January 10, 2020}

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Igor Roninson has seen the effects that COBRE grants have on an institution and, in turn, how the funding and motivation can lead to a positive impact on the development of junior scientists. The Center for Targeted Therapeutics (CTT) was created to attract and foster the professional development of talented junior scientists who are dedicated to research in the treatment of debilitating diseases and to develop the infrastructure for targeted therapeutic studies.

“I have witnessed firsthand how COBRE grants transform an institution like ours,” says Roninson, who is the SmartState endowed chair and drug discovery and biomedical sciences professor in the UofSC College of Pharmacy. “They provide funding and motivation for coordinating research endeavors in medically important and fundable fields, through building research resource infrastructure, enabling targeted faculty recruitment and providing mentorship to new faculty.”

Because of the leadership, vision and ongoing success of Roninson and his team, CTT has again been recognized with a $11.2 million COBRE grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This latest award supports the second phase of the grant.

Dr. Roninson has directed the advancement of young faculty members into independently funded scientists ... and enhanced the development of new research cores at the University of South Carolina.

Stephen J. Cutler, Ph.D.  Dean, College of Pharmacy

Transitioning to the next phase of a COBRE is something not easily accomplished, according to College of Pharmacy Dean Stephen J. Cutler.

“Less than one-half of the Phase I COBREs are successfully converted into a Phase II program,” Cutler says. “Dr. Roninson has directed the advancement of young faculty members into independently funded scientists, supported the growth of a critical mass of investigators focused on the design and discovery of new therapeutic agents, and enhanced the development of new research cores at the University of South Carolina.”

It is Roninson’s intention to continue those initiatives that lead junior faculty members to become self-supporting in their investigatory roles.

The CTT focuses on three resource cores: Functional Genomics Core, Drug Design and Synthesis Core, and Microscopy and Flow Cytometry Core.

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