Statistics in Drug Discovery

North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC

Investigators

Abstract

Students who are supported solely by industry are typically so involved with solving the company's daily problems that they do not have opportunities for conducting research to aid their understanding of the basic problems encountered. This project provides funding for two students so that half their time will be devoted to research on new opportunities identified through company projects and the remaining time will be devoted to working on the company's daily problems. The company identified for this project is Glaxo Wellcome (GW), with Dr. S. Stanley Young serving as industry mentor. Specific goals include developing methods for: (a) variable selection in the context of pooled data on compound potency; (b) using pooled data for elucidating the relationship between the chemical structural features of individual compounds and the probabilities that the compound will be biologically potent or will restrict biological potency; and (c) predicting the potency of an individual compound solely based on its chemical structural features. Students will gain experience in formulating research problems, evaluating project impacts on the company's operation and on scientific research, and making oral and written presentations to individuals from different disciplines. This proposal will also impact GW's operations. Because company scientists are involved in the program, the procedures developed will be more suitable for their applications and there is a potential for the company to invent profitable products resulting from these studies. This GOALI project is jointly supported by the MPS Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (OMA) and the Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS).