GRIDD tackles devastating diseases using the unique Compounds Australia and Nature Bank resources, and an extensive global network of partners.
We innovate at the chemistry-biology interface, and collaborate with academia, the community, government, health, not-for-profits and industry. We thank our supporters including the Clem Jones Foundation, Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation, Aegium, Parkinson’s Queensland, and the Queensland and Australian Governments.
We are proud to foster the next generation of drug discovery scientists.
Please partner with us in our search for revolutionary new treatments.
GRIDD brochure
Unique resources
The Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery has unique resources available for use.
NatureBank
NatureBank, a resource based on natural products, is ready for High Throughput Screening against any disease.
Compounds Australia
Representing the nation’s compound collection, it connects chemists with biologists for drug discovery.
Unique technology
Our key technologies include High Throughput Screening, Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry and Fragment-Based Screening.
NatureBank flyer
Research Highlights
Welcome to GRIDD
Find out more from Director Professor Jennifer L. Martin.
Australian of the Year 2017 Professor Emeritus Alan Mackay-Sim
Alan Mackay-Sim is a world-renowned trailblazer in cell transplantation, who paved the way for innovative research to repair damaged spinal cords to return the gift of movement to paralysed people.
Antibiotic Resistance
Director Professor Jenny Martin, who was elected to the Australian Academy of Science in May 2017, talks about her research into the rapidly growing problem of antibiotic resistance.
Compounds Australia flyer
Our research
The Institute strives for excellence through supporting our research teams to work collaboratively to advance the discovery of new drugs. Innovation is encouraged through cross-disciplinary rigour and global collaboration. Read more about our work combating specific diseases and disabilities, below.
Directions in Drug Discovery
Cancer
An estimated 130,470 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in Australia in 2016, with that number set to rise to 150,000 by 2020. Professors Vicky Avery, Sally-Ann Poulsen and Associate Professor Rohan Davis are working to discover compounds that are active against breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer.
Infectious diseases
Infectious diseases kill more than one million people annually. GRIDD’s Professors Kathy Andrews, Vicky Avery and Ronald Quinn are seeking new drugs to treat diseases like malaria and TB, while Director Professor Jenny Martin is exploring new approaches to treat complicated urinary tract infections as well as melioidosis, a common disease in northern Australia.
Parkinson's disease
About 70,000 Australians are affected by this progressive disease of the nervous system. Professor George Mellick’s research explores the genetics of Parkinsonism and the interactions between genetic and environmental factors that contribute to onset and development of the disease.
Drug resistance
Professor Sally-Ann Poulsen has discovered a new way to reverse multidrug resistance in cancer. While Director Professor Jenny Martin is exploring how to disarm bacteria so they cannot cause disease.
Spinal Cord Injury Repair
Up to half a million people globally suffer from spinal cord injury. GRIDD’s Associate Professor James St John in the Clem Jones Centre for Neurobiology and Stem Cell Research offers hope of new therapies. This research was pioneered by 2017 Australian of the Year, Professor Emeritus Alan Mackay-Sim.
Our researchers
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Latest news
August 7, 2017
Make science a priority this National Science Week
Science leaders have issued a call to action ahead of National Science Week – make science a priority and prepare for jobs of the future. Queensland Science Minister Leeanne Enoch and 2017 Australian of the Year, Griffith University Professor Emeritus Alan Mackay-Sim, have both sent strong messages to the community urging them to embrace STEM […]
August 1, 2017
Featherstar and sea-lily chemistry making a splash
You’ve probably seen one if you’ve snorkelled a reef but little do people know that the beautiful feather star and sea-lily could one day be the source of new medicines. Griffith University scientists Dr Yunjiang Feng, Dr Shahan Khokhar and Associate Professor Rohan Davis have undertaken an in-depth study of the chemical makeup of feather […]
July 27, 2017
Renowned researcher returns home to FNQ
One of Australia’s foremost researchers into Parkinson’s disease, Professor George Mellick from the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery (GRIDD), returns home to North Queensland next week to encourage locals into future scientific study. And it should come as no surprise that the former Mareeba boy will reinforce a strong belief that many jobs in the […]