Tools to find and measure cancer drug targets
Official title: New Chemical Tools for Covalent Drug Discovery
Funded at University of Virginia · NIH-11451959 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Creating new chemical probes to find which proteins cancer drugs attach to and how much they bind, to help people with cancer.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Virginia NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Charlottesville, United States) |
| Project start | February 1, 2024 |
| Project end | May 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $144,421 |
| NIH project number | 7R61CA278449-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11451959 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People with cancers who might be candidates for future covalent-inhibitor trials or who can donate tumor or blood samples for proteomic studies would be most relevant.
✕Less likely to help
Patients seeking immediate treatment benefit or those without cancers targeted by covalent inhibitors are unlikely to gain direct clinical benefit from this project now.
What this research studies
From my perspective as a patient, the team is making special chemical probes that stick to particular parts of proteins often targeted by cancer drugs so they can be mapped across cells and tissues. They will synthesize these reagents and use advanced protein-analysis techniques (chemoproteomics) to identify both intended drug targets and unintended off-target proteins. The group will also develop ways to measure how much of a target protein is actually bound by a drug inside cells, and combine those data with safety and drug-level information. This work is meant to help researchers pick safer, more promising cancer drug candidates earlier.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could speed up development of safer and more effective covalent cancer drugs by revealing targets and potential toxicities earlier in the process.
How similar studies have gone: Related chemoproteomics approaches have previously identified drug targets and supported approved covalent drugs, but this project aims to create new, more informative tools for target discovery and occupancy measurement.
Where this research is happening
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University of Virginia
Charlottesville, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Marto, Jarrod a. — University of Virginia
- Study coordinator: Marto, Jarrod a.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.