BIRMINGHAM, Ala., April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Robert C. Reynolds, Ph.D. of Southern Research Institute will present "The State of the Art in Biodefense Vaccines and Therapeutics: The Application of Screening Libraries to Biodefense" at the Biodefense Vaccines, Therapeutics and Diagnostics: Policy, Funding, Development, Testing Production, and Distribution Conference to be held April 13-15, 2004 in Washington, DC.
"Having access to chemically diverse libraries, and the labs to conduct the research, are key in expanding our efforts in biodefense research," said Reynolds, director of Drug Discovery Technology at Southern Research Institute. Reynolds will discuss the research steps and resources needed to discover and develop therapeutic solutions for biodefense threats, and how a complete drug discovery program using screening libraries can contribute to the solution. Southern Research Institute has already helped establish such an acquisition program and repository for global research to find new compounds for the treatment of tuberculosis.
Reynolds manages the Medicinal Chemistry Group at Southern Research, and oversees several NIAID research grants in the area of drug design against unique targets in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. He also directs the Southern Research Repository -- a collection of over 10,000 small, drug-like molecules derived from more than 50 years of grant and contract work with the NIH. The success of this program is evidenced in that Southern Research has five clinically approved drugs, nearly two dozen agents that have reached clinical trials, and three drugs currently in clinical testing. Through two major research contracts with NIAID, Reynolds works with outside library suppliers, commercial and academic, to acquire libraries for government screening programs, and these libraries are plated, maintained, and distributed by the Institute.
Since joining Southern Research Institute in 1987, Reynolds has been co- principal investigator or principal investigator on a number of grants and contracts relating to drug discovery against opportunistic infections in HIV, particularly M. avium and M. tuberculosis. He has also worked in the design and synthesis of semisynthetic adjuvants for improved vaccines in biodefense and improved drug delivery systems targeting macrophages, the host cell for a number of select agents. He has authored or co-authored over fifty publications in peer-reviewed journals, presented his scientific work at nearly 100 scientific meetings worldwide, and also held several adjunct positions at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).
He earned a B.S. degree in General Chemistry from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 1977, and his Ph.D. from Duke University in Organic Chemistry in 1985. He worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Medicine at Duke University for one year, and then moved to the NIEHS in Research Triangle Park as a Postdoctoral Fellow under Dr. Robert London studying in vivo metabolism using NMR.
About Southern Research
Southern Research Institute is a recognized leader in independent contract research, leveraging more than 60 years of achievement to create innovative solutions for public and private sector clients in the pharmaceutical, health, biotechnology, chemical and biological defense, homeland security, automotive, environmental, energy, aerospace and engineering industries. Based in Birmingham, Ala., with other major research operations in Frederick, Md. and Research Triangle Park, NC, and Southern Research is affiliated with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). For more information, visit http://www.southernresearch.org/ .
Media Contact
Rhonda Jung, Southern Research, 205-581-2317, jung@sri.org
Southern Research InstituteCONTACT: Rhonda Jung of Southern Research, +1-205-581-2317, orjung@sri.org
Web site: http://www.southernresearch.org/
