Ó³»­´«Ã½

What is the timeline for the review process?

All proposals that are submitted on or before the deadline will be reviewed within 2 weeks according to the following process:

1) Each application will be screened for completeness and their appropriateness for a partnership with CHEAD.
2) Screened proposals will be reviewed, discussed and ranked by the review committee and scored by the selection criteria described below.

After proposals are ranked,

3) The CHEAD team will contact the principal investigator of top-ranking proposals to formulate a work and resource plan that best positions the project to be successful.  The formulation period may take up to 1 month. 
4) Upon completion of a mutually agreed upon work plan, work will commence on the selected projects approximately 45 days after the application deadline. 

What are the selection criteria for projects?
We will select high-impact and innovative projects that have identified molecules that can be feasibly optimized from a medicinal chemistry perspective. Proposals will be scored based on five general criteria:

Significance – Does the project propose an innovative and promising therapeutic solution to address antibiotic resistance?

Innovation – Has the project uncovered new biology or bacterial targets; have identified a new class of antibiotics; or have developed a novel screening strategy to discover new-small molecule candidates?

Impact – Can CHEAD resources make a substantive impact on the proposed project?

Investigators – Is the academic lab actively working on the project such that a CHEAD partnership would accelerate a project that is already fully operational? Do the PIs and collaborators have appropriate experience and/or an established record of accomplishments in their field?

Environment – Does the PI's research institution provide adequate institutional support and resources that will contribute to the success of the proposed project?

What kinds of research projects will be considered?
Projects that focus on developing small-molecule therapeutics that target infection by antibiotic resistant pathogens; projects targeting Gram-negative bacterial infection will be prioritized.

What does a working partnership with CHEAD look like?
Weekly team meetings consisting of both CHEAD and academic lab members will be held and progress will be evaluated on a monthly schedule by the CHEAD leadership.  Decisions to accelerate or terminate projects will be made every 6 months, based on the recommendations of the Ó³»­´«Ã½ CHEAD team.

How will inventions developed under the collaboration be managed?

All work will be done collaboratively between the Ó³»­´«Ã½ and the academic institution.  The Ó³»­´«Ã½ will work with the academic institution to put in place a joint invention agreement that will govern the licensing of the work developed under this collaboration. Any revenues from licensing will be shared equitably among the involved institutions.

Will my application be considered confidential in the review process?
Yes,  your application will be treated confidentially.

Who are the members of the CHEAD team?

Deborah Hung, MD, PhD
Dr. Hung is an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital and in the Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology at Harvard Medical School, and the director of the Infectious Disease Program at the Ó³»­´«Ã½ of MIT and Harvard. She also holds several positions as an infectious disease and critical care physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Hung received her B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University; her M.D. and postdoctoral training from Harvard Medical School; and completed her residency in internal medicine and fellowships in infectious disease and critical care medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. 

Brian Hubbard, PhD
Dr. Brian Hubbard has spent his career spanning leadership roles in academia, pharma and biotech.  At Harvard Medical School, Dr. Hubbard's research focused on vancomycin and vancomycin analogs.  At Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Novartis Institutes for Biomedical sciences, Dr. Hubbard held leadership roles in the Cardiovascular & Metabolic Franchises, leading programs into clinical testing.  At Merck, Dr. Hubbard led the discovery and preclinical efforts in Cardiovascular and Atherosclerosis Disease and provided leadership for numerous Phase III programs. Dr. Hubbard received his B.S. in Chemistry from William & Mary and his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.  

Michael Serrano-Wu, PhD
Dr. Michael Serrano-Wu has built a successful track record in drug discovery, with a tangible impact on identifying new therapeutic modalities for infectious disease.  At Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dr. Serrano-Wu discovered palindromic NS5A inhibitors for the treatment of Hepatitis C virus (HCV), an effort that led to the discovery of daclatasvir (Daklinzaâ„¢) and the subsequent development of several interferon-free combination regimens.  Dr. Serrano-Wu has nearly 20 years of medicinal chemistry experience in antifungal and antibacterial drug discovery, and has developed a keen interest in drugging protein-protein interactions (PPIs) that are currently unsolved by the biopharmaceutical community.  Dr. Serrano-Wu led drug discovery efforts in metabolic disease and cancer while at Novartis.  Dr. Serrano-Wu received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Organic Chemistry from Harvard University.

Katie Lee, PhD
Katie Lee is a Senior Research Chemist at The Ó³»­´«Ã½.  Dr. Lee has spent her professional career at the forefront of early drug discovery programs in both industry and academic institutions.  After beginning her career as an industrial medicinal chemist at Neurogen, she moved to Harvard Medical School, where she helped bridge basic biology and small molecule drug discovery at The New England Regional Center of Excellence and The Centers of Excellence for Translational Research, before joining The Ó³»­´«Ã½. She received her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Wesleyan University followed by postdoctoral training at Yale University.