Overview

In 1997, Harvard University launched the Institute of Chemistry and Cell Biology (ICCB), in order to facilitate the growth of the new discipline of understanding life through the actions of small molecules.

The ICCB was established by Co-Directors Dr. Stuart Schreiber and Dr. Tim Mitchison to facilitate the pursuit of Chemical Genetics as an academic discipline. ICCB had the dual mission of developing this interdisciplinary science and reaching out to the scientific community, so that its impact could be felt broadly. At the time, techniques for high throughput screening of small molecule libraries in biological assays were being developed in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries as means to speed the identification of lead compounds for drug discovery. The ICCB Screening Facility was one of the first high throughput screening facilities to be opened in an academic setting.

In 2002, Dr. Schreiber and the ICCB were awarded an Initiative for Chemical Genetics (ICG) contract from the National Cancer Institute. The high-throughput screening facility is a central component of the ICG. Its highly successful Investigator-Initiated Screening Program facilitates small-molecule screening projects for more than 100 different research groups from throughout the U.S. and abroad. NCI’s ICG greatly supports the screening facility as well as the development of small molecules derived from modern synthetic chemistry and the integration of technology and automation that will enhance the chemistry, compound management and small-molecule screening. In its underlying objective to accelerate the discovery of potential drug targets in academic laboratories, the ICG also sets out to support and enhance the scientific community working towards new therapeutics for cancer. ChemBank, a small-molecule and assay-data analysis environment, is a product of the ICG efforts towards that goal.

In 2005, Dr. Schreiber joined the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. As a result, the ICCB was divided into two groups: the Broad Institute Chemical Biology Platform, and the ICCB-Longwood, located at Harvard Medical School. The Broad Institute screening facility houses both a National Investigator-Initiated Screening Program (sponsored by the Initiative for Chemical Genetics (ICG)) and a Disease Biology Screening Program open to affiliates of Harvard and MIT, as well as the larger public research community. The ICCB-Longwood Screening Facility remains in the location previously occupied by the ICCB at Harvard Medical School. ICCB-Longwood serves Harvard Medical School and Harvard Hospital-affiliated researchers. The integration of the Broad Institute allows us to work together more effectively while enhancing ICG's impact through its integration with the genomic sciences.

The ICG is a program of the National Cancer Institute Office of Chemical Genomics (OCG). Dr. Daniela Gerhard is Director of OCG and the Program Manager for ICG. The ICG is contracted through Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).