About Us

For more information contact:

Dan LaBarbera, PhD
Professor and Director
Center For Drug Discovery
Co-Director
Drug Discovery and Development Shared Resource (D³SR).

Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
12850 East Montview Boulevard, Room V20-2101, Aurora CO, 80045
E: Daniel.LaBarbera@cuanschutz.edu | P: 303-724-4116

Our Mission and Goals

With generous support from The ALSAM Foundation, the Center for Drug Discovery (CDD) at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus was established in 2020-2021 with a mission to become a hub for drug discovery in Colorado. Colorado is home to some of the most talented academic and industry researchers that are focused on understanding the complexity of human diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and many other diseases. As a result, one of the most valuable contributions to health science researchers in Colorado are the diverse biological models of human disease. The goal of the CDD is to partner with researchers to harness these diverse disease models for drug discovery and drug repurposing. To accomplish this goal the CDD has built a state-of-the-art robotic high-throughput screening and imaging (HTS/HTI) facility that will be utilized to convert human disease models for HTS/HTI of hundreds of thousands of potential novel drugs and clinical drug repurposing. The CDD intends to bring researchers together, collaborate with academic schools and departments, other centers and institutes, and industry. The CDD will function to provide faculty, scientists, and students with know-how and educational opportunities in drug discovery. Ultimately, the goal of the CDD is to facilitate pre-clinical drug discovery and lead drug development. In the process, the CDD partners with investigators and CU Innovations to expand the intellectual property (IP) portfolio, increasing the pipeline of lead therapies and opportunities for clinical translation, licensing agreements, and the formation of startup companies.

• Centralize expertise and shared resources to facilitate drug discovery with a goal to increase federal grants and other funding, intellectual property (IP), and translational research.
  
  
• Bring researchers together from CU and other academic institutions, and Colorado industry.
  
  
• Collaborate with CU AMC schools and existing centers, other academic institution, hospitals, and industry to facilitate and conduct drug discovery research and jointly develop new programs and funding opportunities in areas of mutual interest to facilitate drug discovery and development, translational research, and precision medicine.
  
  
• Provide education opportunities, including seminars, workshops, short courses, certificates, and contribute to the drug discovery curricula of established CU AMC graduate programs.
  
  
• The CDD will facilitate lead drug development with the objective to expand the CU IP portfolio by collaborating with investigators and CU Innovations to increase opportunities for clinical translation, licensing agreements, and the formation of startup companies.

The Center for Drug Discovery Collaborative Hub Diagram.
Driving Drug Discovery Through Innovation and Collaboration