The Drug Discovery and Development Resource Center
Welcome to the Texas A&M Drug Discovery & Development Resource Center (3DRC)—your gateway to translational science at the heart of the Texas Medical Center. Anchored within the Institute of Biosciences & Technology (IBT), we connect investigators with a region-wide ecosystem of advanced technology cores and the Gulf Coast Consortia (GCC) to accelerate ideas from target to therapeutic. Our capabilities span large-scale virtual screening and generative ligand design, high-throughput biochemical assays, quantitative binding kinetics analysis, cell-based screening for hit discovery and validation, microphysiological systems for lead optimization, and commercialization support.
Explore our journey and milestones that reflect our mission: to advance innovative therapies through collaborative science, rigorous methods, and access to best-in-class instrumentation and expertise.
Launch of GCC Chemical Genomics Core
Founded as the High-Throughput Screening Core for Chemical Genomics under the Gulf Coast Consortia with support from the John S. Dunn Foundation.
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Established at UTHealth as part of the GCC, led by Dr. Peter J. A. Davies and Dr. Clifford Stephan, providing high-throughput tools for chemical genomics and drug discovery.
CPRIT MIRA — TxSACT (RP110532)
Multi-investigator CPRIT program accelerates collaborative drug discovery.
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TxSACT coordinates cross-lab projects, infrastructure, and training to scale discovery and translation efforts.
Transition to Texas A&M IBT (Houston)
Center transitions to the Texas A&M Institute of Biosciences and Technology.
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Operations and leadership move under Texas A&M IBT, aligning with broader Texas Medical Center collaborations and service expansion.
NCT01912625 — Trametinib + Chemoradiation for KRAS-Mutant NSCLC
Phase I study at MD Anderson testing MEK inhibition with concurrent chemoradiation in unresectable stage III KRAS-mutant NSCLC.
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Preliminary high-throughput radiation-sensitizer screens conducted in partnership with GCC-CDDP prioritized MEK pathway inhibition in KRAS-driven models, providing the mechanistic rationale and preclinical efficacy data that enabled translation to this combined-modality trial.
CPRIT CFSA — GCC-CDDP (RP150578)
CPRIT Core Facility Support Award establishes the Gulf Coast Consortia Combinatorial Drug Discovery Program.
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Funding to expand high-throughput screening and combinatorial discovery infrastructure serving investigators across the GCC and Texas Medical Center.
CPRIT MIRA — TNBC Resistance Platform Trial (RP160710)
Randomized clinical trial platform at MD Anderson to overcome therapy resistance in triple-negative breast cancer.
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Platform trial integrates molecular triaging and imaging-guided neoadjuvant strategies for TNBC. High-throughput screening to identify and phenotype resistance mechanisms.
GCC-REACH (NIH REACH)
Entrepreneurial training and commercialization support for biomedical innovations.
NCT03740100 — Bimiralisib in NOTCH1 Loss-of-Function HNSCC
Open-label, single-arm study evaluating PI3K/mTOR inhibition in NOTCH1-LOF head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
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Preliminary discovery work powered by GCC-CDDP resources identified PI3K/mTOR pathway vulnerabilities in NOTCH1-LOF HNSCC through unbiased pharmacogenomic screening, guiding the choice of bimiralisib and the genomically defined eligibility criteria used in the trial.
CPRIT CFSA — GCC-HtFCP (RP190581)
the Gulf Coast Consortia High Throughput Flow Cytometry Program launched to broaden assay capabilities.
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Adds high-content flow cytometry for screening, mechanism profiling, and cell-based analytics.
CPRIT CFSA — GCC-CDDP Renewal (RP200668)
Renewal strengthens CDDP instruments, SOPs, and user support.
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Deepens capacity and improves reliability for large-scale screening and follow-up.
NCT04555837 — Alisertib + Pembrolizumab in Rb-Deficient HNSCC
Phase I/II trial at MD Anderson testing Aurora kinase A inhibition with PD-1 blockade in Rb-deficient, immunotherapy-refractory HNSCC.
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Preliminary data from GCC-CDDP/HtFCP high-throughput pharmacogenomic and cell-based profiling demonstrated AURKA dependency in Rb-deficient HNSCC and supported combinatorial immunotherapy, directly informing drug selection, biomarker strategy, and protocol development for this trial.
GCC-Cancer Therapeutics Training Program (CTTP)
A Gulf Coast Consortia Multi-institutional postdoctoral training in academic and industry drug discovery.
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Prepares fellows with hands-on experience across screening, medicinal chemistry, and translation.
CPRIT CFSA — GCC-MLOTS (RP210108)
the Gulf Coast Consortia Micro-physiological Lead Optimization & Toxicity Screening center created.
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Introduces microphysiological systems to improve translational relevance for lead optimization and toxicity assessment.
NCATS Tissue-Chip Testing/Validation
Tissue-chip (microphysiological) validation activities expand translational modeling.
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Brings microphysiological systems into routine evaluation pipelines for drug discovery and toxicity testing.
Relocation to TMC3 Helix Park CRB
Expansion into the new TMC3 Collaborative Research Building in Houston.
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Upgraded space improves collaboration and enables deeper AI-driven ligand design and advanced synthetic/medicinal chemistry.
CPRIT CFSA — GCC-DDRC (RP250505)
the Gulf Coast Consortia Drug Discovery Resource Center consolidates CDDP & HtFCP and adds probe discovery.
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Forms the integrated 3DRC hub with screening, analytics, and AI-enabled design for small molecules and peptides.