Collaboration awards enable scientists to design new medicines, more precisely edit DNA and fight drug-resistant bacteria
Scripps Research announces its 2024 recipients of Collaborative Innovation Fund grants.
February 06, 2025
LA JOLLA, CA—Scripps Research is proud to announce the recipients of its Collaborative Innovation Fund (CIF) grants for 2024. These awards aim to empower three multidisciplinary teams in their quests to address some of the most pressing challenges in science and medicine through high-risk, high-reward research. By bringing together scientists with unique expertise, the CIF helps spark discoveries that can improve lives worldwide. Each project reflects Scripps Research’s commitment to advancing science for the greater good.
“The CIF exemplifies the power of teamwork and bold thinking in science,” says CIF founder Tom Daniel, who is also a Scripps Research board member. “The awarded projects tackle some of the most difficult dilemmas in medicine, combining diverse expertise to create solutions that have the potential to effect change globally.”
Professor Phil Baran and Assistant Professor Yuzhong Liu comprise one of the winning teams. Their project, “Biosynthesis and evolution of new-to-nature peptide antibiotics,” strives to develop next-generation antibiotics to fight superbugs. Antimicrobial resistance poses a critical threat worldwide, claiming millions of lives each year. To help solve this problem, Baran and Liu are leveraging non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs)—enzymes that act like tiny assembly lines to build complex molecules such as antibiotics. Using these enzymes, the researchers will generate and screen libraries of new antibiotics that can target drug-resistant bacteria like tuberculosis and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Another team of grant recipients includes Professors Sumit Chanda, John Teijaro, Christopher Parker and Benjamin Cravatt. For their grant-winning endeavor, “Therapeutic discovery through programmable protein heterodimerization,” the researchers are working on a technology that rewires how proteins interact inside our cells. By pairing proteins in unique ways, the team aspires to find hidden biological processes that could be harnessed to create therapies for various conditions. This work could lead to entirely new types of treatments for cancer, autoimmune diseases and viral infections.
Participants of the third team are Scripps Research Fellow Shannon Miller and Professor Howard Hang. Their project, “A CRISPR-free precision genome editing system for large DNA manipulations,” entails developing a next-generation tool to edit DNA in human cells without relying on traditional CRISPR technology, which can sometimes cause harmful side effects. These issues include unintended cuts in DNA that can lead to damage in healthy cells. By avoiding the breaks in DNA that CRISPR requires, the team’s method offers a safer and more precise way to develop therapies for genetic disorders like Crohn’s disease.
The CIF is awarded through an internal grant competition that provides seed funding for research projects in their early stages, helping them progress to a level where they can secure additional funding from more conventional sources.
The fund emphasizes groundbreaking basic research with strong potential to drive significant technological advancements, apply emerging technologies in new ways, repurpose existing technologies for novel uses and integrate diverse methodologies across disciplines. The CIF has been supported by multiple donors, including prominent gifts from Daniel and philanthropists Charles and Gail McCabe.
“These are the kind of visionary projects that embody the spirit of the CIF,” says Daniel. “They show how collaboration can drive transformative breakthroughs.”
Learn more about, or contribute to, the Collaborative Innovation Fund.
For more information, contact press@scripps.edu