Who We Are

The Wellcome Centre for Anti-Infectives Research is part of the Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery . This is a division within the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee.
WCAIR brings together the Drug Discovery Unit (DDU) , the Mode of Action group and the Parasitology research groups. With the daily interactions of these groups, parasitology and drug discovery can work together in synergy. This empowers us to create potential new treatments for diseases which affect over 1 billion people across the world.

Our Aims and Objectives

Aim 1: Expand pipelines of pre-clinical and clinical development candidates for diseases of the developing world

We will

  • Develop in vitro and in vivo assays/models to deliver pre-clinical candidates with a stronger evidence base and a match to target product profile
  • Develop new methods for hit discovery
  • Enhance Centre infrastructure to improve effectiveness of drug discovery
Aim 2: Positively impact on global neglected tropical disease (NTD) drug discovery

We will

  • Establish WCAIR as the ‘go-to’ research institute for NTD drug discovery
  • Train the next generation of drug discovery researchers
  • Establish WCAIR as a leader in public engagement for NTD drug discovery
Aim 3: Use WCAIR expertise and knowledge to tackle unmet medical need within the field of anti-infective drug discovery