History
Upon return to the Canary Islands in 2004, Dr. Padrón started a screening program in the Research Unit of Hospital Universitario NS de Candelaria aimed at the discovery of new anticancer substances. With the financial support of Instituto Canario de Investigación del Cáncer through EU Project Biopolis, Dr. Padrón moved to ULL’s Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica Antonio González (IUBO) as Principal Investigator and founded the research group BioLab. In 2010, BioLab joined the official list of research groups of the ULL.
Since 2004, BioLab’s research trajectory based on an Lead Generation to Candidate Realization (LGCR)-type strategy has been linked to the preclinical discovery of new small molecules with special interest in the therapeutic area of cancer (to a lesser extent antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory drugs) using convergent strategies aimed at early identification of the therapeutic target of each bioactive molecule by applying a global Phenotypic Drug Discovery (PDD)-type strategy.
The differential character of BioLab is based on the rational use of the equipment and the economic resources available to undertake our lines of work more efficiently. BioLab bases its uniqueness on its strategic positioning at the interface between Chemistry and Biology.
Throught the years, BioLab has enhanced its capacity with the incorporation of experienced researchers. In 2012, Dr. Fernandes established a new area of research bringing his knowledge and expertise in Computational tools for the design of new small molecules and the study of their interaction with biological macromolecules. In 2019, Dr. Lacret joined BioLab to start a new research line for the bioprospection of natural products from endemic species.