Anti-Infectives Drug Discovery - AIDD
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most urgent global health challenges, with drug-resistant infections projected to surpass cancer as the leading cause of mortality by 2050. As resistant pathogens outpace the development of new anti-infective agents, innovative drug discovery strategies are urgently needed. The FWF-funded DocFunds program Anti-Infectives Drug Discovery (AIDD) at the University of Vienna addresses this critical unmet medical need through advanced research and doctoral training in pharmaceutical sciences.
Coordinated by Judith M. Rollinger and Lea Ann Dailey, AIDD unites ten internationally recognized principal investigators and ten FWF-funded doctoral fellows, supported by in-house and extramural partners. The program focuses on developing novel drug candidates against Candida sp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, two high-risk pathogens. Invasive Candida infections show high mortality rates and rising antifungal resistance, while Pseudomonas aeruginosa is classified as a critical priority pathogen by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Our strategies
AIDD integrates target-based and phenotype-based drug discovery strategies, combining hit identification and hit-to-lead optimization within a comprehensive development pipeline supported by artificial intelligence. Enhanced by advanced screening technologies and natural product research, the program bridges mechanistic insight with phenotypic validation to accelerate the discovery of innovative anti-infective agents. Rooted in the Team Science concept, AIDD fosters interdisciplinary collaboration and career-oriented training, preparing graduates for leadership roles in academia, industry, and public health while advancing sustainable solutions to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Target-based strategy
- Identify target proteins
- Screen compound/fragment libraries
for interactions with the target - Test activity in pathogens
Phenotype-based strategy
- Untapped resources / hidden chemistries
- Bioactive hit extracts
- AI integrates biology and chemistry identification and isolation of novel hit compounds
- In silico target prediction
Hit-to-lead optimization
- Sustainable synthesis and chemical optimization, upscaled isolation or biosynthesis
- Determination of mechanism of action
- Improved compound delivery
Our network
AIDD mission
Discovery of new anti-infectives
for two selected microbial pathogens
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10Principal investigators
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10PhD students
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10Perspectives
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1Goal
Anti-Infectives Drug Discovery
Grant DOI 10.55776/DOC3579124
Project coordinator: Judith M. Rollinger
Project co-coordinator: Lea Ann Dailey
Funding program: doc.funds
