The center will be housed in Michelson Hall, which opened at USC in October 2017. A state-of-the-art research facility, the aim of the center is to establish a convergence of researchers across science and engineering to work together on multidisciplinary approaches for the development of improved healthcare through new drugs, diagnostics and medical devices.

 

“Agilent’s collaboration with the Michelson Center is an excellent example of how academia and industry can work together, sharing knowledge and expertise to shorten the timeline between scientific discoveries and real-world applications,” said Darlene Solomon, senior vice president and chief technology officer for Agilent. “Convergent bioscience research requires successful collaboration across multiple disciplines—a holistic approach that is central to Agilent’s view of the future.”

 

Key to the Agilent Center of Excellence will be a collaboration with Michelson Center principal investigator Dr. Valery Fokin. Research at the Fokin lab at USC focuses on chemical reactivity and biological interactions at the molecular level. The lab will contribute to multiple collaborative drug discovery projects, ranging from chemical synthesis of screening and focused libraries and biological assay implementation to the development of targeted drug delivery systems, diagnostics and vaccines.

 

“As convergent bioscience becomes a major contributor to scientific knowledge and ultimately improved human health, academic and industry collaboration will play a key role,” said Stephen Bradforth, divisional dean for natural sciences and mathematics at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. “I’m pleased that Agilent has the vision to support our efforts in this important emerging research field.”