ChEMBL

The Teach-Discover-Treat (TDT) initiative was launched at the ACS meeting in San Diego under the umbrella of the Computers in Chemistry Division. The slides that describe the initiative are available on the website www.teach-discover-treat.org

TDT aims to address outstanding gaps in drug discovery education and treatments for neglected diseases. A competition was launched that solicits submissions of computational models and tutorials for drug discovery for neglected diseases. All tools used for the computational workflows must be freely available (open source, free web servers, free download of executables) to enable global collaboration and innovation.

There are 4 categories in the competition, and 4 awards!  Three of the categories are focused on specific neglected diseases for which datasets have been provided. Specific requirements have been formulated for the workflows that are to be the submissions for the competition in these three categories. The requirements are outlined in the readme files that are part of the data download packages. Additional background information is available in the slides from the kick-off symposium, which can be found on the website. Real-life impact on these three challenges will be realized through experimental follow-up on the winning submissions (compound acquisition, synthesis, and biochemical testing through various academic partnerships). A fourth "open innovation" category seeks innovative drug discovery workflows that are either exemplified on a neglected disease project or adaptable to a neglected disease application.

The datasets for the competition are available here: http://www.teach-discover-treat.org/downloads

Visit the website www.teach-discover-treat.org for comprehensive information and note that the competition closes on September 5, 2012.