Current Research Projects
Juan Francisco Leon, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
College of Pharmacy
Research goal:
To create novel CBD dimers that are specific to cannabinoid or serotonin receptors.
Nicholas Truex, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
College of Arts and Sciences
Research goal:
Create engineered transcription factors to induce expression of tumor antigens in
vitro.
Joseph McQuail, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
School of Medicine Columbia
Research Goal:
Develop novel drugs targeting heteromeric NMDA receptors aimed at preventing or reversing
age-related memory loss.
Fiona Hollis, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
School of Medicine Columbia
Research Goal:
Test whether chronic unpredictable stress induces excessive mitochondrial fragmentation
via the elevation of glucocorticoids that increase Drp1 recruitment to the mitochondrial
outer membrane in a receptor-specific manner. Then examine whether disruption of these
specific Drp1-receptor interactions can prevent mitochondrial fragmentation and subsequent
inflammation and downstream behavioral alterations.
Prior Research Projects
Katie Kathrein, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Goal:
Find approaches to restoring the function of a tumor suppressor using a zebrafish
model.
Assistant Professor
Department of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences, College of Pharmacy
Research Goal:
Generate potent and selective DDX3 inhibitors for the treatment of neurodegeneration.
Assistant Professor
Department of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences, College of Pharmacy
Research Goal:
Investigate Tyrosyl tRNA synthetase as a new target in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative
diseases.
Ozgur Sahin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences, College of Pharmacy
Research Goal:
Overcoming in vivo resistance to chemotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer.
Eugenia Broude, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences, College of Pharmacy
Research Goal:
Develop new approaches to improving the efficacy of breast cancer therapy by combining
targeted drugs with novel transcription-regulating kinase inhibitors.
Mentors:
Hippokratis Kiaris, Ph.D.
Phillip Buckhaults, Ph.D.
Jing Fang, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Services, College of Pharmacy
Research Goal:
Targeting of Gq/11 and calcineurin for leukemia therapy
Mentors:
Igor Roninson, Ph.D.
Lorne Hofseth, Ph.D.
Mythreye Karthikeyan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
Research Goal:
Validate and explore inhibin as a novel potential cancer target for antibody-based
and small-molecule drugs.
Mentors:
Igor Roninson, Ph.D.
Hippokratis Kiaris, Ph.D.
Michy Kelly, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Neuroscience, USC School of Medicine
Research Goal:
Identify the molecular mechanisms that control Phosphodiesterase 11A (PDE11A) transcription
and/or catalytic activity in order to reveal new opportunities for developing PDE11A-targeted
therapeutics.
Mentors:
Igor Roninson, Ph.D.
Jim Fadel, Ph.D.
Norma Frizzell, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Neuroscience, USC School of Medicine
Research Goal:
Validate and explore a new metabolic target for genetic neuropathological diseases
associated with aberrant mitochondrial function.
Mentors:
Lawrence Reagan, Ph.D.
Peisheng Xu, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences, College of Pharmacy
Research Goal:
Develop a highly selective and efficient system for drug delivery into the brain and
test this system in a model of Alzheimer’s disease.
Mentors:
Qian Wang, Ph.D.
Mark Kindy, Ph.D.
Michael Shtutman, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences, College of Pharmacy
Research Goal:
Develop an anti-cancer drug that kills both dividing and non-dividing tumor cells,
while sparing normal tissues, by targeting coatomer protein complex.
Mentors:
Igor Roninson, Ph.D.
Kim Creek, Ph.D.