Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery

What to know what we are up to at the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery? Follow us on LinkedIn!

The recent rain and flooding across Queensland and NSW have impacted many in our Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery community of staff, students and alumni. Our GRIDD buildings have fared well, however our sincere thoughts are with all of those in the community who have been impacted. Please stay safe and take care yourselves and each other.
Griffith Science

Today is a Rare Disease Day. Rare diseases come in many forms and present across the medical spectrum. There are more than 7,000 rare diseases, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Some are widely recognised, such as cystic fibrosis, while others are less known, such as Hereditary Spastic paraplegia Type 56 (SPG56). Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery researchers Dr Alexandre Cristino, Prof Vicky Avery and Emeritus Professor Alan Mackay-Sim are collaborating with University of Queensland researchers to find a drug treatment for SPG56. Working with the charity Genetic Cures for Kids inc. (GC4K), GRIDD is spearheading drug discovery research for GC4K's first campaign Our Moon’s Mission: a quest to help children like Tallulah Moon, who are living with this SPG56. To learn more about this effort please visit ourmoonsmission.org

Calling all Griffith University Early Career Researchers keen to showcase their research and promote cross-institute collaborations!
Registration and abstract submission for the 2nd Griffith ECR Cross-Institute Symposium is now open.
When: Friday 5 November 2021 from 9am – 5pm (social function from 5 – 8pm)
Where: Griffith University Nathan campus, Building N22
Featuring keynote speaker Dr Alain Wuethrich from UQ, the focus of this year’s symposium is on Emerging Biomedical Technologies. The topic of Dr Wuethrich’s presentation will be “Some Liquid Biopsy Nanodiagnostics for Monitoring Cancer and the Human Immune System”.
To register or submit an abstract, visit tinyurl.com/wv78pon

Congratulations to Chamindie Punyadeera on her new paper which will in appear in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics describing how Saliva testing may allow early detection of human papillomavirus–driven head and neck cancers. Chamindie will join the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery as a Professor in November!

Saliva testing may allow early detection of human papillomavirus–driven head and neck cancers High-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV) can be detected at diagnosis in saliva samples from the vast majority of patients with HPV-driven head and neck cancers, improving disease identification and monitoring, according to a new study in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics

This week the Labs of Prof Kathy Andrews and A/Prof Tina Skinner-Adams enjoyed a relaxing lunch at the Daisy Hill Koala Sanctuary as part of the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery Wellness and Collegiality Month.

GRIDD Wellness and Collegiality Month continues. It was great to see so many people enjoy the morning tea on Wednesday, even with the need to social distance. Congratulations also to the winners of this weeks plant lucky draw Ron, Stefanie and Ashley. We hope that this weeks winners enjoy their new green friends. To promote wellness and (one of our values) collegiality, next week we will be creating a GRIDD diversity map with a pin for each members place of birth and encouraging people to have a chat and crunch on an apple!

We are very pleased that the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery Compounds Australia facility will be the new home for the Australian Drug Discovery Library (ADDL), a uniquely curated library of 329,000 chemical compounds used to advance drug research in Australia. Griffith University, via GRIDD, is part of the Australian Lead Identification Consortium (ALIDC). This week the ALIDC announced a five-year extension of the Consortium, a national partnership that brings together leading drug discovery organisations from around Australia - Children’s Cancer Institute Australia, WEHI, UniQuest Pty Limited through Queensland Emory Drug Discovery Initiative (QEDDI), Cancer Therapeutics and Griffith University.

GRIDD the new home for chemical compound library The Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery has become the new home for a uniquely curated library of 329,000 chemical compounds used to advance drug research in Australia.

3MT finalist Melissa Hill discussing "Brain Traffic & Parkinson's Disease. Melissa's project aims to better understand the underlying cellular changes that contribute to Parkinsons's disease development.

GRIDD on Twitter “"Brain Traffic" & Parkinson's Disease! 3 minute thesis finalist for Melissa Hill delivers a terrific presentation her project that aims to better understand the underlying cellular changes that contribute to Parkinson’s disease development. Congratulations Melissa!”