Louis Scampavia

Louis Scampavia serves as Senior Scientific Director in the Department of Molecular Medicine at University of Florida, where he leads the High-Throughput Molecular Screening Center. Previously, he held a joint appointment as Associate Professor in Molecular Therapeutics at Scripps Research from 2005-2017 and served as CSO at FIAsolutions Inc. His academic career spans drug discovery, assay development, and molecular screening technologies.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Chemistry, University of Washington (1996)
• B.S. in Chemistry, University of Washington (1991)
• B.S. in Genetics, University of California, Berkeley (1979)

Dr. Scampavia's research focuses on advancing drug discovery through High Throughput Screening (HTS) technology. He develops biological assays for HTS compatibility, performs exploratory HTS campaigns for drug lead discovery, and pioneers technology development for HTS robotics. His work bridges academic research and pharmaceutical applications, collaborating with TSRI, UF faculty, Florida researchers, and academia with funding from NIH, DoD, and private foundations. His laboratory specializes in automating large-scale screening experiments to identify therapeutic leads from compound libraries.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals a dominant focus on antiviral drug discovery (particularly SARS-CoV-2 and Zika virus), neurodegenerative disease research (Alzheimer's), and cancer therapeutics. His work demonstrates consistent innovation in screening platform development, with emphasis on cell-based assays, 3D culture systems, and novel molecular targets. The publications show strong methodological rigor with frequent development of specialized screening protocols.

Dr. Scampavia maintains an active grant portfolio with numerous NIH-funded projects where he serves as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator. His current grants focus on drug discovery for cancer, viral infections, neurological disorders, and metabolic complications. He has developed collaborative relationships with pharmaceutical companies including Takeda, Lilly, and Lexicon Pharmaceuticals.

He leads the Scripps Florida Molecular Screening Facility, which provides high-throughput screening capabilities to academic and industry researchers. The facility specializes in developing and executing screening campaigns across diverse therapeutic areas, with particular expertise in viral targets, neurological disorders, and cancer pathways. His team has developed innovative approaches for 3D culture screening, neuronal models, and specialized assay formats for challenging targets.