Together with Dr. Gaetano Montelione of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (https://montelionelab.chem.rpi.edu/) we have entered into an NIH-funded collaborative drug discovery project with the Scripps Research Institute to identify novel antiviral drugs for treating COVID-19. This project is part of the multidisciplinary Center for Antiviral Medicines and Pandemic Preparedness (CAMPP), which was selected as one of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern. The AViDD Centers' program is one of the U.S. government’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and is aimed at the near-term development of drugs against viruses with high pandemic potential — including coronaviruses, filoviruses (such as Ebola virus), flaviviruses (yellow fever virus, dengue virus, Zika virus), paramyxoviruses, bunyaviruses, and togaviruses.

Funding: NIH U19AI171443

Funding: The Rensselaer Center for Engineering and Precision Medicine (CEPM) Mount Sinai Clinical & Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program

Mazzei, L., Ranieri, S., Greene-Cramer, R., Cioffi, C., Montelione, G. T., Ciurli, S. An isothermal calorimetry assay for determining steady state kinetic and enzyme inhibition parameters for SARS-CoV-2 3CL-protease. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2024 Jan 31:2024.01.31.578159. doi: 10.1101/2024.01.31.578159. PMID: 38352570; PMCID: PMC10862909. 

Bafna, K. Cioffi, C.L.; Krug, R. M.; Montelione, G. T. Structural similarities between SARS- CoV2 3CLpro and other viral proteases suggest potential lead molecules for developing broad spectrum COVID-19 therapeutics, Front. Chem. Sec. Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, 2022, doi: 10.3389/fchem.2022.948553.