Contact SRI Biosciences

Center for Advanced Drug Research (CADRE)

Scientific research at CADRE is focused on the detection and treatment of infectious disease and countermeasures to bioterror threats

SRI has established the Center for Advanced Drug Research (CADRE) at SRI Shenandoah Valley in Harrisonburg, Virginia. CADRE's mission is to advance the state of the art to improve the productivity of the pharmaceutical industry, help our nation respond to biothreats, and develop life-saving treatments for neglected and orphan diseases.

CADRE's goal is the creation of new diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines for infectious and neglected diseases, and for biodefense. The Center combines SRI's well-established expertise in drug discovery, computational biology, and preclinical development with a new proteomic laboratory to develop these solutions.

CADRE focuses on proteomics—the study of the proteins that make up living organisms, including infectious agents—to fill in gaps in our understanding of the biological systems critical to infection, recovery from, and defense against infection. This new understanding, facilitated by both in vitro and in vivo laboratory experiments and in silico computational biology, can then be applied to detecting and treating diseases such as tuberculosis as well as discovering effective countermeasures against bioterror threats.

Specifically, CADRE's work includes three distinct program areas:

• Proteomics studies of host-vector-pathogen interactions, focusing on insect-borne viruses, respiratory and diarrheal pathogens, and parasitic protozoa. Examples include West Nile fever, dengue fever, tuberculosis, leishmaniasis, and malaria
• Identification of the "critical links" underlying the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, intracellular toxin transport, and vector competence. Our approaches will enable the discovery of novel markers, well-characterized targets, and therapies
• Mining SRI's and others' databases for biological pathways that play a critical role in disease development. Coupling computational approaches with proteomics and structural biology will help design novel therapies and diagnostics

Interplay of research and training
Advances in the study of genomics and our understanding of how genes influence both life and death have transformed biomedical research dramatically in recent years. Questions remain, however, both around the technologies required to further advance our use and understanding of these data, and how best to apply this information to produce future healthcare products. Continued exposure of students, fellows, faculty, and staff to real-life laboratory problems is essential to achieve the desired impact on healthcare in our lifetimes—eliminating the suffering and death due to diseases that are treatable or preventable.

Because of this, research and training of undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral fellows is an integral part of the Center's activities. Student interns and post-doctoral fellows will form the bulwark of the Center's workforce, and key staff members of the Center hold adjunct faculty appointments at nearby James Madison University (JMU). They conduct joint research and training projects with JMU students and faculty, and they present lectures on topics of mutual interest at JMU and other Virginia academic institutions. Faculty from these institutions are invited to spend sabbaticals at the Center to conduct research and training of students. Thus, student training and their participation in research—be it in biotechnology, exploring alternate forms of energy, nanotechnology or public policy—are integral to the efforts at SRI Shenandoah Valley.

For information about CADRE, contact:

Laboratory Operations Manager
Biosciences Division, SRI International
140 Research Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22802
Phone: 540-438-6600
Fax: 540-438-6601
Email: CADRE@sri.com

Contact SRI Biosciences

       Last Updated Aug 26, 2010