Drug Discovery and Molecular Pharmacology A – DMPA
The Drug Discovery and Molecular Pharmacology A (DMPA) study section reviews applications that are concerned with the identification of novel therapeutic agents to combat bacterial, fungal, parasitic and viral (excluding HIV) infections using biochemical, pharmacological, structural, cell-based, and animal model approaches.
Review Dates
Topics
- Discovery of novel anti-infective agents including small molecule inhibitors, natural products, therapeutic peptides, adjunct therapeutics, drug combination regimens, repurposed drugs, phage therapy, and probiotic/microbiota-based approaches
- Molecular characterization of anti-infective agents, including mechanism of action, structural characterization, and confirmation of target engagement
- Optimization of anti-infective agents, including structure-guided drug design, medicinal chemistry, hit-to-lead optimization, adjunct therapeutics, and combination regimens
- Discovery of novel agents for host-directed therapies, including immunotherapies, to counter infections
- Development of novel assays and models to test drug efficacy, including cellular, organoid, and animal model systems
Shared Interests and Overlaps
There are shared interests in drug development with Advancing Therapeutics [MCST (81)]. Applications that emphasize late-stage drug development efforts may be reviewed in MCST (81). Applications that emphasize early-stage drug development, such as discovery of novel agents and characterization of mechanism of action may be reviewed in DMPA.
There are shared interests in infectious disease drug discovery with Anti-Infective Resistance and Targets (AIRT). Applications that emphasize biologically-focused approaches may be reviewed in AIRT. Applications that emphasize chemistry-focused approaches may be reviewed in DMPA.
There are shared interests in drug design with Chemical Biology & Probes (CBP). Applications that emphasize drug synthesis with limited biological assessments may be reviewed in CBP. Applications that emphasize drug function and anti-infective potential may be reviewed in DMPA.
There are shared interests in pathogen biology with Prokaryotic Cell and Molecular Biology (PCMB), Bacterial-Host Interactions (BHI), Bacterial Virulence (BV), Molecular and Cellular Biology of Virus Infection (MCV), Viral Dynamics and Transmission (VDT), Viral Pathogenesis and Immunity (VPI) and Pathogenic Eukaryotes (PTHE). Applications that emphasize understanding fundamental processes or pathogenesis mechanisms, or that use known drugs as probes, may be reviewed in the relevant pathogen-focused study section. Applications that emphasize developing new anti-infective drugs may be reviewed in DMPA.
