Vision
Our vision is to map drug-binding capacities for disordered proteins, catalysing next-generation drug discovery.
How we are doing this
We are working to enable prediction of small-molecule binders from disordered protein sequences alone. We are first building a high-throughput, parallel platform (combining cellular and biophysical experiments, computation, and AI) to increase state-of-the-art screening efficiency to probe millions of small-molecule/disordered protein interactions. We will leverage this platform to create an enormous dataset and ultimately build an AI system that, given any disordered protein sequence, will predict promising drug candidates.
A Focused Research Organisation
The scale of our science is bold, requiring a strong engineering focus, and is rooted in public benefit. To maximise impact, we have established Bind as a Focused Research Organisation (FRO, Marblestone et al., Nature, 2022), the first to be formed in the UK, to create high-impact tools and datasets. We are committed to sharing our output (tools, AI software and data) publicly, while also maximising translational impact by protecting IP of specific, potential drug molecules to ensure they can be developed into therapeutics and ultimately accessed by medical professionals and patients.
Support
We are supported by the UK government, philanthropy, disease-related organisations, and industry. We also collaborate with and rely extensively on support from academic labs. If you would like to learn more, reach out at info@bindresearch.org.
Team
Dr Gabi Heller is a biophysicist who has developed new experimental and computational methods for targeting IDPs involved in cancer, dementia, and viral infection, including contributing to the discovery of ‘entropic expansion’ and ‘specific diffuse’ binding mechanisms. Gabi’s work has been recognised by several prestigious fellowships and grants. Gabi brings her experience as a Principal Investigator at University College London (UCL). She was previously a Schmidt Science Fellow at UCL, following her Rosalind Franklin Research Fellowship and Gates-Cambridge Scholarship at the University of Cambridge.
Dr Marcus Harrison is an experienced COO with over 15 years in executive roles across life science organisations, including university spinouts, non-profits, and industry ventures. Prior to joining Bind Marcus served as Director of Strategy Delivery and Partnerships at the Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh, Chief Operating Officer at the Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC), and before this in executive positions for several start-up and established life science organisations. During the COVID-19 pandemic Marcus established the operational functions at the Alderley Park Lighthouse Lab, helping to scale the UK's diagnostic capacity. Marcus’s broad expertise in building organisations positions him well to build Bind’s core operational functions encompassing partner engagement, project delivery, impact reporting, risk management and programme governance.
Melissa Strange is a commercially-minded senior finance leader with over 16 years worth of experience in life sciences companies. Melissa has been involved from early-stage research through clinical development and into commercial phases, and has worked across biotech, healthtech and medtech, where she has provided expertise in financial strategy, tax management and has supported a range of commercial and corporate transactions, including significant dilutive and non-dilutive funding. Prior to joining Bind Melissa served as Chief Financial Officer at Infinitopes, Brainomix and Closed Loop Medicine and was VP, Finance for Summit Therapeutics, a NASDAQ listed biotech. Melissa is also Chair of the Finance and Tax Advisory Committee at the BioIndustry Association. Melissa will be overseeing Bind’s financial operations and legal aspects.
Dr Gogulan (Gogs) Karunanithy is an expert in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, specialising in automated high-throughput workflows and designing deep neural networks for data transformation. At Bind, Gogs is leading NMR technical development to meet milestones for experimental characterisation of interactions, managing relationships with NMR centres to ensure resource access, and establishing the laboratory.
Dr Thomas Löhr is an expert in computational methods for studying protein dynamics and interactions. Thomas will leverage his extensive experience in academia and industry to lead a computational team developing tools to characterise small-molecule binding to IDPs. Thomas is overseeing the integration of simulations and machine learning, as well as efforts to enhance user-friendliness. Additionally, Thomas is managing the company’s AI strategy and IT systems.