The goal of the Drug Discovery and Development Program is to discover single entity and multicomponent bioactive natural products that may serve as leads for the development of new pharmaceuticals that address unmet therapeutic needs.
Emphasis is on agents that control certain infectious diseases, cancer and immune disorders.
Chemical constituents responsible for biological effects are identified and then either isolated and purified in the search for new single entity pharmaceutical ingredients or characterized and standardized in the search for new multicomponent botanical products. The Center builds on a strong foundation and history of excellence in natural products research at The University of Mississippi. The discovery program starts with the collection of natural products from worldwide sources. Sources of natural products include plants, marine organisms and microorganisms. The Center also collaborates with many academic, government and private sector laboratories that run complimentary biological assays in support of the discovery program.