Center of Scientific Excellence for Biological Structure and Drug Design
About the center
The Helwan Center of Scientific Excellence for Structural Biology and Drug Design was established as one of the outcomes of the Infrastructure Funding and Scientific Centers of Excellence Establishment Project within Egyptian universities and research centers. This project is funded by the Science, Technology & Innovation Funding Authority (formerly the Science and Technology Development Fund) in its first phase.
The center was officially inaugurated and accredited by the Faculty Council Decision No. 406 dated March 21, 2022, and the University Council Decision No. 523 dated April 26, 2022.
The center conducts studies on determining the structural composition of proteins and identifying drug-protein interactions as one of the key steps in drug design research. It is considered one of the few specialized centers in this field in Egypt and Africa. The center operates under the umbrella of the Scientific Research Fund and is affiliated with the Faculty of Pharmacy, Helwan University.
Center Objectives:
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Center Objectives:
- Providing an outstanding research infrastructure, including a well-equipped laboratory environment and modern research devices in various fields such as tissue culture, biological structure, and advanced drug design technologies that align with global research developments.
- Establishing a strong infrastructure to attract numerous funded research projects from both within and outside Egypt, ensuring sustainability and continuous development of the center with modern facilities.
- Offering technical support to young researchers, including faculty members and research assistants from Helwan University and beyond, through research collaborations and access to the center’s advanced infrastructure, enhancing their research skills and competitiveness in local, regional, and international research communities.
- Enhancing the skills of faculty members and research assistants from both within and outside the university at an international level by hosting specialized and high-quality training workshops. These workshops help researchers gain technical expertise and foster collaboration between researchers from different institutions.
- Advancing the scientific research level of the Faculty of Pharmacy at Helwan University by promoting international publications in high-impact scientific journals.
Courses Organized by the Center:
A Series of Workshops Held at the Center of Scientific Excellence:
We have organized a workshop entitled “The new opportunities in drug discovery using cell cultures”, 8th – 10th 2018. It was attended by 25 of young researchers as well as undergraduate students. They were taught the basic techniques of tissue culture and its application in drug discovery.
- We have organized a workshop entitled "qPCR Workshop activity “From planning & optimizing experiment to drug discovery applications”, 11th -12th 2019. The workshop provided participants a deep and objective understanding of different molecular biology techniques with highlighting all types of qPCR and applications in genotyping and expression profiling in various fields of molecular diagnostics and drug discovery. 20 participants has attended the workshop.
- Isothermal Calorimeter application We hosted the Sweden expert Peter Jameson, who hold a 3-days hands on workshop to train researchers at faculty of pharmacy on using ITC and its application. 25 attended the workshop, attendees included research assistants and junior staff as well as 4 undergraduate students.
- An international training course in cooperation with the “International Center of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology”, Trieste Italy and a UNESCO affiliated center. The course entitled “CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing: a new approach for therapeutics (hands on course)”. The course was originally planned 6-8 Sept. 2021 but due to travel restriction it was postponed to 20th -22nd 2022. Funding is secured from ICGEB, ASRT and Helwan University to cover the running cost and accommodation of international speakers and provide grants to part of the participants. Course will have speakers and instructors from UK, USA, Italy and Egypt. Applications has been submitted and screened and we have selected 30 participants from Colombia, Croatia, Gambia, India, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Slovenia, Turkey, and Vietnam in addition to Egypt.
Services Provided by the Center:
The Center of Scientific Excellence is Equipped with Various Research Instruments Serving Different Specializations, Including:
- Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) System
- Spectrophotometer
- Nucleic Acid Quantification Device
- Isothermal Titration Calorimeter (ITC)
- Protein Purification and Separation System
- Cell Culture Unit
- Bacterial Culture Unit for Protein Expression
These advanced instruments support research in molecular biology, drug design, biochemistry, and pharmaceutical sciences.
