Professor Dr. James Mckerrow

Biography

Dr. McKerrow leads a consortium of academic and industry scientists dedicated to the discovery and development of new drugs for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). This consortium focuses on drug discovery and development for Phase clinical trials. The center pioneered the development of high-throughput screening assays for ten neglected diseases, ranging from single-cell protozoa like Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi to complex multicellular helminths (worms) like Schistosoma and Brugia. Over 30 companies have shared their compound libraries with the center, which encompasses expertise in structure-based drug design. This includes computational approaches and structure-guided medicinal chemistry, as well as maintaining animal models for proof-of-concept studies related to NTDs. Notable achievements include discovering and developing a drug for Chagas’ disease that successfully passed a pre-IND meeting with the FDA and receiving Orphan-Drug Designation for drugs targeting NTDs through a repurposing screening campaign. Additionally, an anti-parasitic drug was successfully repurposed to treat SARS-CoV-2 in non-human primates.

Research Interests

Experience

Awards