We are happy to announce that Diana Assis and Vicente Ledesma from the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, Portugal, are the winners of the BioSolveIT Scientific Challenge Spring 2024.
Their research explores the potential of molecular photoswitches targeting orexin receptors 1 and 2 (OX1R and OX2R) as a novel therapeutic approach for Alzheimer’s Disease. By using BioSolveIT’s computational tools, they screened over 2.5 million azobenzene-containing compounds, narrowed the list to ~556,000 make-on-demand molecules, and used advanced filtering, t-SNE dimensionality reduction, and structure-based docking to identify promising candidates for light-controlled modulation of orexin receptor activity.
Their work demonstrates an innovative strategy for combining virtual screening, molecular design, and photoswitchable pharmacology to develop precision therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases.
We congratulate Diana and Vicente on this outstanding achievement and wish them continued success in their research journey!
Read more about their project by following this link.