Investigators

Summary

My major research interests center around the discovery of small molecules with phenotypic assays in clinically relevant cellular and whole organism models. It is becoming increasingly clear that better models of the in vivo milieu are needed to improve the discovery of new drug candidates. Zebrafish, C. elegans, and Drosophila in particular provide unique opportunities to discover novel potential therapeutics using functional assays in a living animal as a complement to cellular and tissue model approaches. Together with members in the Departments of Neurology and Developmental Biology, I have established methodology for zebrafish chemical screening, generated automated image analysis tools for quantification of reporter gene expression, and automated neurobehavioral assays in multiwell plate formats. Currently, active zebrafish discovery projects include kidney and heart regeneration, angiogenesis and vascular malformations, early safety assessment, and neurodegenerative diseases. Cancer-related research efforts include the discovery of small molecule modulators of mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatases (MKPs), PUMA, profilin-1, and estrogen receptor alpha as treatments for metastatic breast and colon cancer.