Our Approach
BCM conducts more than $600M in discovery and translational research with enormous opportunity to impact patient health. Dysregulation of RNA is frequently a culprit in these disease settings, but there is often a gap between understanding and intervention. THINC is a BCM center of excellence whose mission is to bridge cutting edge RNA basic science with early-stage drug discovery to develop novel therapeutics and ultimately benefit patients. THINC pursues this mission through a two-pronged approach.
First, we recruit and support academic innovators in RNA biology and are cultivating a collaborative environment for creative team-based science. Our multifaceted faculty bring diverse technologies and expertise that illuminate novel understanding of RNA diseases and new opportunities to solve these ailments.
Second, to complement the innovative discovery science, THINC is also building a multifaceted drug discovery team to identify and translate transformative RNA discoveries into therapeutics.
Our Therapeutic Team
To bridge the gap between discovery and therapeutic, THINC has built a talented team of scientists with expertise in biophysics, biochemistry, chemical biology, computational biology, functional genomics, and experimental models of disease. The THINC Therapeutics Team collaborates with BCM investigators (in and outside of THINC) to identify early drug discovery projects, validate therapeutic hypotheses, develop technology platforms and assay cascades, and discover early chemical matter to probe disease and propel therapeutic development.
Our multifaceted therapeutic team is lead by:
Calla Olson, Ph.D.
Director of Chemical Biology
Dr. Olson’s group focuses on developing and deploying biochemical assays to identify and validate early drug discovery therapeutic candidates.
Kristen Karlin, Ph.D.
Director of Target Discovery
Dr. Karlin’s group utilizes functional genomics and chemical genetic approaches to model selective target inhibition and elucidate target mechanism of action in disease.
Lukas ‘Miko’ Simon, Ph.D.
Group Leader of Computational Biology
Dr. Simon’s group develops computational approaches designed for complex molecular data to drive the discovery of RNA therapeutics.
Resources and Instrumentation
We have built a suite of critical instrumentation to enable THINC’s drug discovery efforts. These resources are available to THINC faculty.
Liquid handling:
Echo Acoustic Liquid Handler, Beckman NxP, Integra Viaflo
Plate-based assay measurement:
BMGLabTech PHERAstar FSX Microplate Reader, ThermoFisher QuantStudio7, ThermoFisher Attune NxT Flow Cytometer, Nexcelom Celigo
Protein Purification & Structural Biology:
AKTA Pure, AKTA Start, SPT Labtech chameleon
Next-Generation Sequencing and RNA Analysis:
Agilent Tapestation, Illumina MiSeq, Oxford Nanopore MinION, Nanostring nCounter SPRINT Profiler
Nucleic Acid and Protein Imaging:
Licor Odyssey M, Cytiva Typhoon
High Content & Live Cell Imaging:
ThermoFisher Evos M5000 & M7000, Nikon Eclipse Ti2, Cytena Cellcyte X
Join Us!
THINC’s therapeutic team is always looking for talented scientists with a passion for RNA biology and drug discovery. If you are interested in joining our team, please see our current openings and contact us!
Dr. Calla Olson - Calla.Olson@bcm.edu or Dr. Kristen Karlin - meerbrey@bcm.edu
