_Engineering_ is the application of science and mathematics to solve
problems. Drug discovery and development is a challenging
undertaking. Recent estimates put the cost at nearly 3 billion US
dollars for every new therapeutic that clears the preclinical and
clinical hurdles to become registered for use in patients. There
is no doubt that the discovery and development of new therapeutics
poses problems amenable to scientific and mathematical solutions, but
engineering alone is often insufficient to predictably generate
solutions. Failures in therapeutic development outnumber successes by
manifold. In this scenario there is a role for passion to drive
efforts against the overwhelming odds. Alastair will discuss recent
developments in therapeutics for lung diseases, highlighting the long
and precarious path to success, learning from failures and introduce
new developments from his group’s work on drugs that target the
master regulator of cellular circadian rhythms.BIO:
Professor Alastair Stewart PhD FBPharmS
Alastair Stewart is a Professor of Pharmacology, Co-Director of the
Lung Health Research Centre Director of the ARC Industrial
Transformation Centre for Personalised Therapeutic Technologies at the
University of MELBOURNE and Chief Scientific Officer of TianLi
Biotech, a newly formed company developing anti-inflammatory and
anti-fibrotic drugs. His research interests focus on tissue
remodelling and a quest for DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL DRUGS
TARGETING TISSUE REMODELLING AND INFLAMMATION. He is developing and
applying the concept of Mechanopharmacology in drug DISCOVERY AND
ULTRA-high content, sub-acute disease modelling, drug screening and
lead qualification. He is currently Vice President of the Asia Pacific
Federation of Pharmacologists. He promotes interdisciplinary research
through leadership roles on Editorial Boards including _Frontiers in
Translational Pharmacology, Current Opinion in Pharmacology_ and the
_American Society of Mechanical Engineering Journal of Engineering and
Science in Medical Diagnostics and Ther_apy
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21/03/2020 Last update