Drug discovery in the fight against Malaria

• Grant number: 20/10494-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: January 01, 2021
• End date: December 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Organic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Carlos Dias
• Grantee: Mariana Ferrer Casal
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Company: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Química (IQ)
• Associated research grant: 15/50655-9 - FAPESP/MMV/DNDi/UNICAMP/USP Consortium to discover new drugs for the treatment of tropical parasitic diseases, AP.PITE

Abstract

This post-doc will work in collaboration with expert scientists from the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV, www.mmv.org) and have access to a very well organized framework providing an integrated approach to modern drug discovery. The overall goal with MMV is to deliver a clinical candidate to treat Malaria, as defined by the criteria for an MMV Preclinical candidate. Such a compound should have the potential to be developed, in combination, to deliver a Single Exposure Radical Cure and Prophylaxis or single exposure chemoprotection drug. A clinical candidate broadly speaking needs to have potency against relevant parasites, a low propensity to generate resistance, have oral efficacy in rodent models, good developability, a good safety profile and low cost of goods. MMV will provide the project with quality lead molecules, aligned to a particular Target Product Profile (TPP) of interest. The post-doc will investigate structure-activity relationships in these series in order to further optimize them and deliver drug candidates, as well as to aim to elucidate novel mechanisms of action. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

KUMAR, MALKEET; AHMAD, ANEES; AGUIAR, ANNA CAROLINE CAMPOS; MALUF, SARAH EL CHAMY; SHAMIM, ANWAR; FERRER, MARIANA; SOUZA, GUILHERME E.; GAZARINI, MARCOS L.; PEREIRA, DHELIO B.; VON GELDERN, THOMAS W.; et al. Indole-2-carboxamides Optimization for Antiplasmodial Activity. ACS BIO & MED CHEM AU, v. N/A, p. 19-pg., 2025-07-31. (13/07600-3, 24/04805-8, 15/50655-9, 19/19708-0, 20/10494-4)