History
Southern Research (SR) established in 1941, is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) research organization and was the first independent scientific research center in the Southeast. Headquartered in Alabama, with sites in Maryland, North Carolina and Georgia. SR is conducting basic and applied research, in the areas of drug discovery, preclinical drug development, advanced engineering, and environmental protection. Southern Research is an incorporated affiliate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the two institutions are brought together through a shared belief in the power and potential of collaborative research. SR has been involved in the identification of several FDA approved oncology drugs (lomustine, carmustine, dacarbazine, fludarabine, and clofarabine) and one cytoprotective agent (Ethyol). All of these drugs were discovered and developed through NCI-supported research collaborations.
CCTS Partnership
As a CCTS Partner, SR is a pivotal partner in the drug discovery efforts. SR has experience in the areas of small molecule high-throughput screening, lead discovery and optimization, as well as preclinical drug development and IND enabling studies. Southern Research is also part of the CCTS Training Academy, where they participate in the mini-sabbaticals, the CCTS drug discovery program and serve as co-mentors to trainees.
As a member of the CCTS partnership, SR serves on the Executive Council, and participates in the drug discovery module and the pilots program and panels. Their current research areas include oncology, neurobiology and infectious diseases. Internal cancer programs include DNA damage response and genomic instability, tumor microenvironment, WNT signaling and transcriptional regulation. In the infectious diseases area, there is ongoing research aimed at identifying novel antibacterials and antivirals, as well as new research on the zika virus. In addition, SR has collaborative discovery programs with several CCTS partners as well as research Institutions throughout the US and Canada.