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A decade of scientific collaboration and impact with cryo-EM
In 2016, the UK Pharmaceutical Cryo-EM Consortium in Cambridge, UK, established a collaboration between Thermo Fisher Scientific and five pharmaceutical companies: Astex Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Nxera Pharma, and UCB. It allowed these companies to harness the potential of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to accelerate drug discovery pipelines with rational design, leveraging the high-resolution protein structures that can be determined with cryo-EM.
This collaborative access to advanced cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) helps realize the transformative role that cryo-EM can play in the drug discovery process.
How to join cryo-EM facilities and consortia
Cryo-EM consortia and drug discovery centers are open for rolling membership. For more information on how you can join these groups, contact us using the form below.
UK Pharmaceutical Cryo-EM Consortium
The UK Consortium continues to build on its original vision by nurturing scientific collaboration and providing access to increasingly powerful cryo-EM capabilities and expertise. Over the past decade, the UK Pharmaceutical Cryo-EM Consortium has played a pivotal role in accelerating the industrial adoption of cryo-EM, enabling hundreds of discovery projects and helping to de-risk early investment across multiple pharmaceutical organizations. Its impact is reflected not only in scientific outputs, but also in the widespread establishment of in-house cryo-EM capabilities across member companies worldwide.
Their cryo-EM facilities include:
- Thermo Scientific Vitrobot IV Systems in dedicated and contained preparation labs.
- Several Thermo Scientific Krios Cryo-TEM systems.
- On-site and remote data acquisition with access to Thermo Scientific Smart EPU Software along with real-time processing through CryoSPARC Live Software.
- Support and training for data acquisition and processing.
San Francisco Cryo-EM Drug Discovery Center
Our Cryo-EM Drug Discovery Center (CDDC) in South San Francisco, CA, provides direct access to advanced cryo-EM facilities and scientific expertise, which can deliver an outstanding sample-to-structure workflow while significantly lowering the barrier for cryo-EM adoption.
By combining innovative cryo-EM technology with a collaborative, collegial scientific environment, the CDDC gives pharmaceutical and biotechnology innovators remarkable opportunities to apply structural biology at scale. This can unlock new insights into disease mechanisms and expedite the path from discovery to development.
Facilities include:
- Vitrobot IV Systems in dedicated and contained preparation labs.
- A Krios G4 Cryo-TEM equipped with a cold field emission gun (C-FEG), a Thermo Scientific Selectris X Imaging Filter, and a Thermo Scientific Falcon 4i Direct Electron Detector.
- On-site and remote data acquisition with access to Smart EPU Software along with real-time processing through CryoSPARC Live Software.
- Support and training for data acquisition and processing.
Our latest Cryo-EM Drug Discovery Center, located in South San Francisco, CA, USA.
Global leadership
The UK Pharmaceutical Consortium and Cryo-EM Drug Discovery Center are guided by a visionary leadership team united by a shared mission; to accelerate scientific breakthroughs and transform the future of drug discovery. With deep expertise spanning structural biology and pharmaceutical innovation, these teams are driving collaboration to unlock new possibilities in therapeutic development.
Dr. Pablo Castro Hartmann
Global Manager, Scientific Operations
Pablo is an applications manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific, and leads both the UK Pharmaceutical Cryo-EM Consortium and the Cryo-EM Drug Discovery Center in South San Francisco. Since joining Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2018, Pablo has driven customer success and strategic collaborations in the cryo-EM field. His work bridges scientific innovation and business development, helping our partners and customers maximize the value of their technology investments, while also accelerating the adoption of cryo-EM in pharmaceutical research and drug discovery.
Global team
Dr. Ying-Chih (Thomas) Chi
Team Lead | San Francisco, USA
Thomas Chi is the team lead at the Cryo-EM Drug Discovery Center in South San Francisco, where he works to expand cryo-EM applications in drug discovery through advanced training and scientific collaboration.
Dr. Scott Gardner
Sr. Application Scientist | Cambridge, UK
Scott joined Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2024 as part of the UK Pharmaceutical Cryo-EM Consortium, where he supports the application of advanced cryo-EM technologies to pharmaceutical research and drug discovery.
Dr. Anna Howes
Sr. Applications Scientist | San Francisco, USA
As a senior applications scientist at the CDDC, Anna uses her expertise and enthusiasm to enable efficient operations and to streamlined structural determination for our customers.
Dr. Sigurdur Thorkelsson
Sr. Application Scientist | Cambridge, UK
Sigurdur “Siggi” Thorkelsson joined Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2024, where he now uses his expertise to facilitate cryo-EM projects at the UK Consortium.
Dr. Maxine Bi
Sr. Applications Scientist | San Francisco, USA
As a senior applications scientist at the CDDC, Maxine draws on her experience with complex membrane proteins and her strengths in troubleshooting and workflow efficiency to help customers overcome structural biology challenges and achieve high-quality results.
Cryo-EM resources
From in-depth application notes and technical guides to case studies and webinars, we’ve curated a variety of resources on cryo-EM drug discovery of small molecules, cell and gene therapies, vaccines, and more.
For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.