The Open Science Forum features monthly talks from scientists from NIH-funded Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Centers who elect to provide updates on target priorities, advertise available resources and reagents, disclose chemical matter (such as hits, leads, and chemical tool compounds) and associated antiviral data, share findings regarding in vivo efficacy models, discuss downstream development and translation models, and share ideas.

Talks will be public, recorded, and shared online along with links to relevant resources and reagents for the benefit of other AViDD Centers and the global antiviral drug discovery community.

An unrecorded discussion with the speakers follows each pair of talks for those that wish to discuss the science behind the work more deeply.

NOTE: The AViDD Open Science Forum is not an official NIAID activity. There is no requirement for staff from AViDD Centers or the NIH to participate in this forum.

Event format

Each monthly Open Science Forum event will be a one-hour webinar featuring two short scientific talks followed by an optional 30-minute moderated discussion with the speakers:

Science talks (recorded, webinar format)

• Talk 1 : 25 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A
• Talk 2 : 25 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A

Moderated discussion with speakers (unrecorded, Zoom meeting format)

• Talk 1 : 30 minutes

Each recorded talk will be posted online after the event, along with relevant links to publications, data, reagents, or other resources discussed by the speaker that may be useful in disseminating resources or reagents for global antiviral discovery.

Mailing list

To receive invitations to events and other news items, sign up for the Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Open Science Forum mailing list.

Schedule

The Open Science Forum will hold virtual events the third Wednesday of every month:

Wed 16 April 2025: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2) [Register Here]
Moderator: Alpha Lee (PostEra)

• Xuping Xie, University of Texas Medical Branch (UNAPP): Mechanism of Action of a clinical trial dengue inhibitor NITD-688: Targeting NS4B for Flavivirus Therapy
• Darlene Chen, Novartis: Discovery of pan-serotype dengue NS2B-NS3 protease inhibitors with in vivo efficacy

Wed 21 May 2025: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2) [Register Here]
Moderator: John Chodera (MSKCC)

• Warren Thompson, Diamond Light Source (ASAP): TBD
• Juan Carlos de la Torre, Scripps Research (CAMPP): Antiviral Strategies To Combat Human Pathogenic Mammarenaviruses

Wed 18 June 2025: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2) [Register Here]

• Ingrid de Visser-Kamerling and Jeroen Kruter, INFECTA: Innovation in clinical research for infectious diseases through Controlled Human Infection Models
• TBD

Past Presentations

All talk videos are archived on Youtube and slides are archived at Zenodo.

Wed 19 March 2025: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Peter Sjö (DNDi)

• Anu Chandran, Diamond Light Source (ASAP): Crystallographic Fragment Screening of RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase Domains as a Foundation for Developing Pan-Flavivirus Therapeutics [Video]
• CJ San Felipe, UCSF (QCRG): Exploiting Orf9b’s lipid-binding capability for improved innate immune response [Video]

Wed 19 February 2025: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Karla Kirkegaard (Stanford University)

• Margaret Kielian (Albert Einstein College of Medicine) (AC/DC) and Thomas Morrison (University of Colorado, Anschutz): 4′-fluorouridine inhibition of alphavirus replication and infection in vitro and in vivo [Video]
• Jingyue Ju, Columbia University (MAVDA): Discovery and Optimization of RNA Synthesis Inhibitors for Coronavirus and Other Viruses of Pandemic Potential [Video]

Wed 15 January 2025: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Frank von Delft (Diamond Light Source)

• Sara Cherry, University of Pennsylvania (CAMPP) (READDI-AC): Identifying antivirals active against emerging RNA viruses [Video]
• Charles Craik, University of California San Francisco (QCRG): Structure-based discovery of highly bioavailable, covalent, broad-spectrum coronavirus-MPro inhibitors with potent in vivo efficacy [Video]

Wed 18 December 2024: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: John Chodera (MSKCC)

• Peter Brown, UNC Chapel Hill (READDI-AC): A Covalent Chemical Probe for Chikungunya nsP2 Cysteine Protease [Preprint] [Video]
• Mei Hong, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (QCRG): Structures and Drug Binding of the SARS-CoV-2 Envelope Protein from Solid-State NMR [Video]

Wed 20 November 2024: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Peter Sjö (DNDi)

• Ed J. Griffen (MedChemica) (ASAP) and Pascale Boulet (DNDi) (ASAP): Enabling equitable and affordable access to novel therapeutics for pandemic preparedness and response via creative intellectual property agreements [Video] [Slides]

Wed 16 October 2024: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Alpha Lee (PostEra)

• Nick Lynch, Curlew Research (ASAP): Research Data Management - Being “FAIR enough” [Video]
• Matthew Robinson, PostEra (ASAP): Discovery of SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease (PLpro) inhibitors with efficacy in a murine infection model [Video]

Wed 18 September 2024: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Frank von Delft (Diamond Light Source)

• Thomas Zwaka, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ASAP): Development of iPSC-derived primary-like systems for medium-throughput antiviral drug discovery [Video]
• Fumiaki Yokokawa, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR): Anti-dengue drug discovery [Video]

Wed 21 August 2024: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Karla Kirkegaard (Stanford University)

• Srinivas Chamakuri, Baylor College of Medicine: DNA-encoded library screening yields mechanistically distinct inhibitors of antiviral targets [Video]
• Margo Brinton, Georgia State University: Conserved sequences in orthoflavivirus genome RNAs that form stable G-Quadruplexes as antiviral targets

Wed 17 July 2024: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: John Chodera (MSKCC)

• Haim Barr, Weizmann Institute of Science (ASAP): High-throughput biochemical assays for early antiviral discovery [Video] [Slides]
• Hoon Chung, University of Louisville (Midwest AViDD Center): Discovery of antivirals targeting SARS-CoV2 viral helicase [Video] [Slides]

Wed 19 June 2024: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Peter Sjö (DNDi)

• John Pottage, Jr. and Jim Demarest (Intrepid Alliance): Antiviral Target Compound Profile (TCP) for Pandemic Preparedness [Video]
• Ed J. Griffen (MedChemica) (ASAP) : The Open Science Discovery of DNDi-6510: An orally bioavailable SARS-CoV-2 antiviral [Video]

Wed 15 May 2024: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Frank von Delft (Diamond Light Source)

• David Minh, Illinois Institute of Technology (ASAP): Enzyme kinetics of the coronavirus main protease and connections to antiviral activity [Video] [Slides]
• Andrew Owen, University of Liverpool: Lessons learned from the mechanism of action and pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationships for antiviral medicines evaluated during the COVID-19 pandemic [Video] [Slides]

Wed 17 April 2024: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Alpha Lee (PostEra)

• Aeron Hurt, Roche Pharma: Insights regarding the development of influenza antivirals for seasonal and pandemic influenza [Video] [Slides]
• Jeanne Hardy, UMass Amherst: Harnessing protease reactions for detection and treatment of viral infection [Video]

Wed 20 March 2024: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 3.00P UK (GMT+1) / 4.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Karla Kirkegaard (Stanford University)

• Matt Bogyo, Stanford University (ASAP): Phage display and mRNA display methods to identify covalent binding inhibitors of protein targets [Video]
• Nat Moorman, UNC Chapel Hill (READDI-AC):Identification of Novel Targets for Broad Spectrum Alphavirus Drugs [Video]

Wed 21 February 2024: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Peter Sjö (DNDi)

• Nir London, Weizmann Institute of Science (ASAP): Applying new covalent chemistries to Mpro inhibitors [Video]

Wed 17 January 2024: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Frank von Delft (Diamond Light Source)

• Timothy Sheahan, UNC Chapel Hill (READDI-AC): Preparing for tomorrow’s pandemics today through the development of broad-spectrum antivirals [Video]
• Sumit Chanda, Scripps Research (CAMPP): CAMPP Pandemic Preparedness: Landing on a short runway [Video] [Slides]

Wed 20 December 2023: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: John Chodera (MSKCC)

• Alejandro Chavez, UC San Diego (MAVDA): High-throughput approaches to viral drug discovery [Video]
• Matteo Ferla, University of Oxford (ASAP): Advancing Fragment-Based Drug Discovery in the ASAP Consortium with Fragmenstein [Video]

Wed 15 November 2023: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: John Chodera (MSKCC)

• Ivan Ahel, University of Oxford: Development of inhibitors against the SARS-CoV-2 NSP3 macrodomain [Video]
• Craig Cameron, UNC Chapel Hill: To excise or not to excise: Potentiating the activity of anti-SARS2 nucleotides by inhibiting its exoribonuclease [Video]

Wed 18 October 2023: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Peter Sjö (DNDi)

• David Perlin and Ching-Wen Chang, Center for Discovery and Innovation (MAVDA): MAVDA- Developing Novel Cellular Tools for Antiviral Drug Discovery [Video] [Slides]

Wed 20 September 2023: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Frank von Delft (Diamond Light Source)

• Stephanie Wills, University of Oxford: Algorithms for progressing crystallographic fragment hits at XChem: Fragment merging using the Fragment Network [Video] [Slides] [Paper]
• Serghei Glinca, CrystalsFirst: Magnet for the needle in haystacks: Unlocking chemical matter using “crystal structure first” fragment hits [Video] [Slides] [Paper]

Wed 16 August 2023: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Peter Sjö (DNDi)

• Thiago Moreno L. Souza, Center for Technological Development in Health (CDTS/Fiocruz): Fighting recent outbreaks of RNA viruses in Brazil [Video]
• Melanie Ott, UCSF: Understanding SARS-CoV-2 Variants through Reverse Genetics [Video]

Wed 19 July 2023: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: John Chodera (MSKCC)

• Karla Kirkegaard, Stanford University (ASAP): Biochemistry of suppressing drug resistance by viral quasispecies [Video]
• Marnix van Loock, Johnson & Johnson: The role of public-private partnerships in the discovery and development of a pan-serotype antiviral to prevent and treat dengue [Video] [Slides]

Wed 21 June 2023: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)

Moderator: Frank von Delft(Diamond Light Source)(ASAP)

• Johan Neyts, Ku Leuven: The Battle of Leuven against Viruses [Video]
• Ryan Lithgo, Diamond Light Source (ASAP): Crystallographic fragment screening of Enterovirus D68 3C protease as part of the AI-driven Structure-enabled Antiviral Platform (ASAP) [Video]

Wed 17 May 2023: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)

Moderator: Alpha Lee (PostEra)

• Mauro Teixeira, UFMG: Anti-inflammatory drugs for infectious diseases: the case for pro-resolving molecules [Video]
• Reuben Harris, UT Health San Antonio (Midwest AViDD Center): Rapid methods for Mpro inhibitor resistance profiling [Video]

Wed 19 April 2023: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: John Chodera (MSKCC)

• Matthias Gotte, University of Alberta: What is the value of mechanism of action studies in the development of nucleotide analogue polymerase inhibitors? [Video]
• Andre de Godoy, University of Sao Paulo: Structural insights on the SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease maturation process and inhibition [Video] [Slides]

Wed 15 Mar 2023: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 3.00P UK (GMT+1) / 4.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Peter Sjö (DNDi)

• Celia Schiffer, UMass Chan (ASAP): Avoiding drug resistance: Defining the substrate envelope for the design of viral protease inhibitors [Video]
• Alison Krentel, University of Ottawa: Now it’s been made, how will it be used? Exploring the pathway from lab to community [Video] [Slides]

Wed 15 Feb 2023: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: John Chodera (MSKCC)

• Brian Shoichet, UCSF (QBI Coronavirus Research Group): False-positives in anti-viral drug discovery: mechanistic bases and rapid counterscreening assays [Video] [Aggregator Advisor]
• Jesse Bloom, Fred Hutch (ASAP): Fitness effects of mutations to SARS-CoV-2 proteins [Video] [Slides] [Interactive Slides [Interactive Data Browser] [Preprint]

Wed 18 Jan 2023: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Alpha Lee (PostEra)

• Daniel Bolon, UMass Chan (ASAP): Systematic analyses of the resistance potential of drugs targeting Mpro of SARS-CoV-2
• Matthew Evans, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (CAMPP);(ASAP: Deep mutational scanning of flaviviruses [Video] [Slides]

Wed 21 Dec 2022: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Peter Sjö (DNDi)

• Neelika Malavige, DNDi (Drugs for Neglected Disease Initiative): Epidemiological, clinical and immunological risk factors of severe dengue [Video] [Slides]
• Pei-Yong Shi, UTMB BMB (The UTMB-Novartis Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness (UNAPP)): Dengue Drug Discovery [Video]

Wed 16 Nov 2022: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2)
Moderator: Alpha Lee (PostEra)

• Ed Griffen, MedChemica (ASAP): Focusing projects with target product profiles (TPPs) and target candidate profiles (TCPs) using the ASAP SARS-CoV-2/MERS-CoV Mpro program as an example [Video] [Slides]
• Tim Willson, Matthieu Schapira, Mat Todd (READDI):
  • Are helicases druggable targets? (Tim Willson) [Video] [Slides]
    • HeliHub helicase database: Use SGC ChemBioPort Query ID: i9hao20220815
  • Analysis of coronavirus helicases and CACHE Challenge #2 on finding hits for SARS-CoV-2 nsp13 (Matthieu Schapira) [Video] [Slides]
    • Conservation of predicted pockets in coronaviruses
  • SARS-CoV-2 nsp13 fragments and the Open Chemistry Network (Mat Todd) [Video] [Slides]
    • SGC nsp13 open lab notebook

Wed 19 Oct 2022: 8.00A PT / 11.00A ET / 4.00P UK (GMT+1) / 5.00P Geneva (GMT+2) [Recording]
Moderator: John Chodera (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)

• Frank von Delft, Diamond Light Source (ASAP): Moonshot lessons for open science: sustaining a collaboration platform for real-time data and idea sharing in targeting SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease [Video] [Slides]
  • Public datasets
    • SARS-CoV-2 X-ray fragment screens at Diamond Light Source
    • Fragalysis online X-ray fragment screen viewer for public datasets
• James Fraser, UCSF (QBICRG): The mechanisms of catalysis and ligand binding for the SARS-CoV-2 NSP3 macrodomain from neutron and X-ray diffraction at room temperature [Video] [Slides]
  • Public datasets
    • Identifying new ligands for the SARS-CoV-2 Macrodomain by Fragment Screening and Multi-temperature Crystallography [Interactively explore on Fragalysis]
  • Preprints and papers
    • Iterative computational design and crystallographic screening identifies potent inhibitors targeting the Nsp3 Macrodomain of SARS-CoV-2 [DOI]
    • Fragment binding to the Nsp3 macrodomain of SARS-CoV-2 identified through crystallographic screening and computational docking [DOI]
    • The mechanisms of catalysis and ligand binding for the SARS-CoV-2 NSP3 macrodomain from neutron and x-ray diffraction at room temperature [DOI]
    • Of problems and opportunities—How to treat and how to not treat crystallographic fragment screening data [DOI]
  • Tutorials
    • Multi-state models from PanDDA
    • Inspecting PanDDA event maps deposited in the Protein Data Bank
  • Software
    • Fragmentstein X-ray fragment merging ligand design tools

Antiviral Discovery Resources

Antiviral discovery resources will be indexed here.

• SARS-CoV-2 X-ray fragment screens at Diamond Light Source