GRIDD is a world-class research facility, offering unique resources and drawing on a global network of partners to target the world’s most devastating diseases.
GRIDD is a Griffith University research institute with a focus on early stage and pre-clinical drug discovery. GRIDD’s aim is to utilise its unique resources, dedicated researchers and international partnerships to drive the discovery and development of revolutionary new treatments to improve human health.
We are currently focusing on a number of key discovery areas, including cancer, infectious diseases, Parkinson’s disease, drug resistance and spinal cord injury repair. Innovating at the cutting-edge of both chemistry and biology, we collaborate with governments, academia, industry and communities to create knowledge that transforms lives.
GRIDD is home to two significant resources in Compounds Australia and NatureBank. Compounds Australia is the nations’ industry standard compound curation facility, unmatched in the Southern hemisphere and a leader globally. NatureBank is Australia’s largest collection of raw biota, processed into large extract and fraction libraries. Both resources are available to researchers and industry worldwide that, like GRIDD, are seeking to discover new treatments and cures for debilitating illnesses.
Directions in drug discovery
Delve deeper into our research and find out more about our approaches, innovation and collaborations across key research areas:
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 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 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. The 2017 Australian of the Year, Professor Emeritus Alan Mackay-Sim pioneered this research.
Our researchers
See the team who make up GRIDD and find out more about our individual research strengths.
Latest news
Injury to the nose increases risk of bacteria entering the brain – study
19 Mar 2020
New research from Griffith University has shown that damage to the lining inside the nose increases...
Griffith University biomedical researchers take home top award
12 Mar 2020
A team of Griffith University researchers has won the prestigious Marshall and Warren Innovation...
GRIDD joins peak medical research body
11 Mar 2020
Leading drug discovery institute announced new member of the Association of Australian Medical...
Study of non-inherited changes to genes highlights environmental interplay in...
06 Mar 2020
First large epigenome-wide study to compare changes between people with Parkinson’s and those...
Unique Resources
Explore our unrivalled resources available for use
NatureBank
Access NatureBank’s collection of 60,000 natural product fractions ready for screening against any disease.
Compounds Australia
Australia's only dedicated compound management facility, Compounds Australia connects chemists and biologists for drug discovery research.
Key technologies
Our key technologies include high-throughput screening, Fourier transform mass spectrometry and fragment-based screening.
Research Highlights
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.
Fighting antibiotic resistance
Dr Maria Halili speaks about her work at the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery finding solutions for antibiotic resistance using disulfide bonds.
Using ion channels to fight Parkinson's Disease
Dr Linlin Ma speaks about her work at the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery using ion channels in the fight against Parkinson's Disease.
Artificial intelligence in drug discovery
Have you ever wondered how technology can help improve drug discovery research in the future? GRIDD's Dr Miaomiao Liu is working on using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse natural products for drug discovery in areas such as malaria and tuberculosis.
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