It is estimated that, for every new drug reaching the market place,
over 8,000 potential drug candidates were synthesized, tested to varying
extents, and judged to be unsuitable. Not surprisingly, the pharmaceutical
industry is extremely interested in computer-based methods for improving
the efficiency of the drug discovery process. The primary mission of
our Laboratory for Molecular Graphics and Theoretical Modeling is to
develop novel theory and software for computer-assisted drug design
(CADD). We address both of the fundamental aspects of drug action: transport
to the biophase and interaction with the receptor. Research Assistants
acquire a broad background in physical chemistry, computational chemistry,
numerical analysis and computer programming and utilize state-of-the-art
hardware and software in a laboratory supported, in part, by the proceeds
resulting from the commercial distribution of software which we have
developed.