William J. Moore, Ph.D.
- Center for Cancer Research
- National Cancer Institute
- 538/234
- Frederick, MD 21702
- 301-228-4236
- bill.moore@nih.gov
RESEARCH SUMMARY
Dr. Moore is a drug hunter and medicinal chemist with experience from the pharmaceutical industry and most recently at Leidos Biomedical Research where he was supporting the NCI Experimental Therapeutics Program (NExT). He leads projects within the CCR Medicinal Chemistry Accelerator (MCA), a new resource for CCR investigators interested in developing small molecule inhibitors towards anticancer drug candidates. The MCA aims to promote the translation of basic science discoveries by CCR investigators into advanced small molecule hits and leads that can be accelerated towards anticancer drug candidates. These efforts require resources that are beyond the scope of individual CCR sections, and are accomplished through collaborative interactions with investigators, the MCA, and contract research organizations (CROs).
Dr. Moore works collaboratively with principal investigators to enable CCR PI projects by leveraging in-house resources and CROs to apply iterative design and synthesis of hit compounds to improve potency and establish structure-activity/property relationships (SAR/SPR). Coupled with data from the intramural labs, resources to support structural biology (where applicable), physicochemical, selectivity and liability assays are applied to profile compounds in hit-to-lead optimization. Advanced compounds are optimized for pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, toxicity and formulation characteristics as well as in vivo efficacy. Throughout this process, Dr. Moore also works closely with representatives from NCI’s Technology Transfer Center to facilitate the patenting process.
Areas of Expertise
William J. Moore, Ph.D.
Biography
William J. Moore, Ph.D.
Dr. Moore is a veteran of the United States Army and served in the 82nd Airborne Division, 1/508th Infantry Regiment. Following his service, he received an undergraduate degree from Indiana University Southeast and then moved across the river to the University of Louisville to obtain his Ph.D. from the chemistry department with Prof. Frederick Luzzio. He then moved to Indiana University, Bloomington, as a post-doctoral fellow working with Prof. Theodore Widlanski. He entered the public sector with a position at ArQule, Inc. located in Medford MA, a solution phase parallel synthesis CRO working with Biotech and Pharma collaborators. After 5 years, he made a move to the pharmaceutical industry, working at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and then Pfizer working on numerous drug discovery projects spanning several therapeutic areas such as Women’s Health, Oncology, Inflammation, Musculoskeletal Biology, Cardiovascular Disease, and Neuroscience. In 2011, he accepted a position with Leidos Biomedical at the Frederick National Lab for Cancer Research applying his experience in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery to support the National Cancer Institute’s Experimental Therapeutics (NExT) program facilitating the strategic alignment and collaboration of government, contract research organizations and academic institutions to benefit oncology focused drug discovery programs. He joined the CCR Chemical Biology Labs in June, 2022 as a project leader for the Medicinal Chemistry Accelerator.
Through his experience working in drug discovery, he has gained exposure to multiple drug (or undruggable) target classes such as Kinases, p97 ATPase, Protein-protein interactions (sFRP-1, Bcl family, WDR5, MLL), Metabolic (LDH, IDH), Nuclear Hormone Receptors (AR, ER), GPCR’s (Vasopressin, mGluR), and Ion Channels (Ca2+), and targeted protein degradation.