Your Impact

Driving Discovery: An endowed position, the Thomas and Constance D’Ambra Professor in Organic Chemistry, brought Dr. Chris Cioffi back to RPI and fuels his lab team’s enterprising investigations.

With speed and an unapologetic mix of enthusiasm and optimism, Chris Cioffi ’94, Ph.D. ’00, begins talking about his RPI-based lab team and its active research portfolio. Ten researchers. Seven active drug discovery projects. Five National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants. An award from the Edward N. and Della L. Thome Memorial Foundation.

“I’m doing something I really love and if we can successfully get a drug to market that helps people, well, I can’t think of anything better to do with one’s life,” said Cioffi, a native of New York’s Capital Region and proud RPI alumnus.

Cioffi returned to his alma mater in January 2022 as the university’s inaugural Thomas and Constance D’Ambra Professor of Medicinal Organic Chemistry, following a 16-year career in drug discovery projects at Curia (formerly known as Albany Molecular Research Inc., or AMRI), and six years as a faculty researcher at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

Cioffi’s research takes aim at ocular diseases, which can dramatically affect well-being, daily routines, and quality of life. In one project, Cioffi and his team are attacking Stargardt Disease – a rare condition that robs individuals, often in their youth, of visual acuity – as well as Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). With promising early results, Cioffi and his team continue preparing toxicology studies required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration before clinical trials begin. If all goes well, Cioffi hopes Phase 1 clinical trials for his team’s novel therapeutic begin within the next five years.

Cioffi’s work, however, extends far beyond debilitating ocular conditions. He is also exploring non-opioid alternative therapies for chronic pain management and novel antiviral drugs to treat COVID-19. “In every project, we’re focused on conducting high-quality science and research to push discoveries forward and help patients,” Cioffi said. While Cioffi acknowledges the long and challenging path – and even longer odds – to achieve clinical approval, the mere potential energizes his daily efforts. “The hope, of course, is that our discovery gets into the clinic, but whether that happens or not, we know our work will inform the broader scientific community and guide the next generation of drug discovery,” he said.

Cioffi describes the D’Ambra Professorship as “transformational,” emphasizing the profound impact it has had on his research. The D’Ambras’ gift has enabled Cioffi to purchase lab equipment to synthesize and prepare compounds as well as essential supplies. It has also allowed Cioffi to recruit and support young scientists from RPI’s talented student population, giving him a capable team to generate the necessary preliminary data to produce competitive grant applications. “One thing feeds the next, but it all starts with the space and resources RPI provided with the D’Ambra Professorship,” Cioffi said

For millions of people across the globe, medications mean the difference between life and death. For others, they also mean the difference between comfort and pain, and living a normal life versus being limited in daily activities. While new medications have the power to both save lives and improve quality of life for patients with chronic health conditions, the process of bringing a new medication to market for patients in need can take more than a decade and can cost billions of dollars.

Bhanushee Sharma, who recently completed her Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was determined to solve this problem. As part of the Artificial Intelligence Research Collaboration (AIRC), a joint effort between Rensselaer and IBM to advance AI research, she worked on a project aimed at improving the drug discovery process through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning techniques.

The current drug discovery process involves both preclinical research, which tests drugs in cells or animals, and clinical research, which tests drugs in people. Sharma, who was advised by Professor Jonathan Dordick and Professor James Hendler at Rensselaer and mentored by Payel Das, research staff member at IBM and manager of AI science at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center, looked at data collected in both preclinical and clinical trials to develop machine learning models that predict the toxicity of drugs before they enter testing in humans.

“Even though a large number of drugs are discovered, very few are actually approved because they end up being toxic in humans or not effective in humans,” Sharma said. “If we have a better idea of the toxicity of these drugs, then we can design drugs that are more likely to receive approval.”

While machine learning models have been developed to predict drug toxicities, many of them have been developed in a way that humans cannot understand. Therefore, one of Sharma’s goals was to develop a model that explains predictions so that scientists can better understand why a prediction has been made. Her explainable AI-based model paves the way for models that scientists can interact with more directly.

“We have many different diseases that we are still trying to find drugs for,” she said. “If we have a quicker and less costly drug discovery process, then we can combat more diseases more quickly.”

Sharma, who graduated in August, plans to enter the biotechnology or pharmaceutical sectors where she hopes to continue to apply machine learning and AI techniques to improve human health.

I am pursuing a dual major in biology and philosophy. I originally planned to study biology since I have always enjoyed the topic and the research. However, I fell in love with the philosophy department – they offer a variety of classes that allow a break from the structured science classes we all have to take. These classes are more discussion-based, and the professors allow for our thoughts and ideas to be considered as actual solutions.

RPI cares a lot about the success of its students. We have opportunities for hands-on research, as well as classes that are specific to the variety of interests of students like me. In fact, if there is an area that isn’t listed, they can help you set up an independent study for it! RPI also offers internships in the field you are studying to gain experience and to secure a job after graduation.

I am also so grateful for my Air Force ROTC opportunity. My dream has always been to serve in the military. Through ROTC, I can succeed in my future goals while also obtaining a degree. After graduation, I plan to commission into the United States Air Force as a biomedical laboratory technician or an RPA pilot.

Without the help of alumni, parents, families, and friends, I don’t think I could have attended RPI. I was able to go to my dream school, thanks to the scholarships I received. My time here at Rensselaer has been truly memorable, and I can’t wait to see what else is to come.