VCU Center for Drug Discovery realigns to advance innovative therapies
May 30, 2025
In the world of drug development, university researchers play a critical role in creating promising new therapies. Under the leadership of new director Yan Zhang, Ph.D., the Virginia Commonwealth University Center for Drug Discovery is undergoing a major transformation — realigning its structure to mirror the industry-standard drug development pipeline and expanding to become a true VCU-wide hub for translational research.
Historically, the center operated without a formally integrated infrastructure. But Zhang has rebuilt the center to mimic the full continuum of drug development — from target discovery and molecular design to preclinical testing and potentially early-stage clinical trials.
“The idea is to follow the proven model used by pharmaceutical companies and to leverage the talent and infrastructure we already have here at VCU,” said Zhang, a professor in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the School of Pharmacy. The initiative is aimed at making VCU’s research more competitive for industry partnerships, federal funding and eventual approval by the Food and Drug Administration.