Administrative Core

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT - Administrative Core The AI-driven Structure-enabled Antiviral Platform (ASAP) AViDD Center is organized as a distributed antiviral discovery effort that will produce---in addition to three Investigational New Drug (IND) applications---a robust pipeline of open science data and reagents to enable global structure-based antiviral drug discovery. Research Projects are organized as the sequential stages of a structure-enabled discovery pipeline, supported by Scientific Cores, with well-coordinated handoffs between Projects essential to rapid progression of discovery programs. The goal of the Administrative Core is to coordinate and support these activities, aid efficient execution of Research Projects, coordinate strategic and timely handoff of discovery programs between Projects as campaigns progress through sequential stages of the discovery pipeline, oversee efficient execution of Scientific Cores supporting these efforts, and assist in the rapid dissemination of all scientific output to the global antiviral discovery community. Administrative Core leadership mirrors the overall ASAP AViDD Center Leadership, consisting of three investigators with a track record of effective collaboration as core investigators of the COVID Moonshot project that succeeded in delivering a SARS-CoV-2 oral Mpro antiviral into preclinical studies in 18 months: Core Lead John Chodera (MSKCC), co-I Alpha Lee (PostEra), and co-I Ben Perry (DNDi), each overseeing a subset of activities. An experienced Administrative Director will oversee the day-to-day operations of ASAP, its finances, and scientific communications within the center, with NIAID, and externally; a Project Coordinator will handle delegated operations tasks, meeting coordination, subaward management, and overseeing contract research organizations (CROs). A Developmental Project award program will be established to enable new technologies to rapidly be integrated into Center Projects or in-depth investigation of new resistance-robust target disease biology, and a Mentored Project award program will enable the recruitment of interdisciplinary scientists to the field of antiviral discovery. A five-member Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) will be recruited that will actively participate in Center Quarterly meetings, provide critical input into go/no-go decisions for promoting discovery campaigns to subsequent projects, provide feedback on Center progress, and select Developmental and Mentored Project Awardees. The Administrative Core will ensure that all Center operations are open and transparent, adherent to our core open science philosophy for accelerating global antiviral discovery.