The Webinar Series will take place bi-weekly on: Thursdays

12 pm noon (EDT/EST)

9 am (PT), 5 pm (UCT/GMT), 6 pm (CET/CEST)

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We will use a single Zoom webinar registration for the upcoming seminars:

https://dfci.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_m7JJaw52T8yZYt8-ykL6UQ

Some seminars might be recorded and accessible for a limited time.

Gabe Lander
Scripps Research

September 29, 2022  

Using cryoEM to see molecular glues in action

Host: Breanna Zerfas

Gabe is a Professor in the Department of Structural and Computational Biology at Scripps Research. His group’s research is focused on combining cryo-EM methodologies with biochemical, biophysical, and computational techniques to produce detailed mechanistic descriptions of the molecular processes that underlie cellular homeostasis and stress-response pathways. Gabe’s studies challenge existing paradigms, with a notable track record of overturning existing long-standing myths in both cryo-EM as well as biology. The pioneering methodological avenues of research established by Gabe’s group have enabled detailed examination of molecular assemblies ranging widely in size and shape to understand their architectures, the conformational landscapes that are responsible for molecular function, and how these landscapes are influenced by small molecule ligands. These research strategies are being used to explore and define the molecular bases of human disease, including heart disease and cancers. Gabe received a B.S. in biochemistry and computer science from Binghamton University, and subsequently carried out his graduate studies at Scripps Research under the joint supervision of Bridget Carragher, Clint Potter, and Jack Johnson. Gabe performed his postdoctoral work in the lab of Eva Nogales at UC Berkeley, where he collaborated closely with Drs. Andreas Martin and Jennifer Doudna. He joined Scripps as an Assistant Professor in 2013. Over his academic career, Gabe has received numerous recognitions and awards, which include the Damon Runyon Dale F. Frey award, an NIH Innovator Award, Searle and Pew Scholarships, an Amgen Young Investigator Award, and a Protein Science Young Investigator from the Protein Society.

October 13, 2022  

Host: Radek Nowak

James Duncan
Fox Chase Cancer Center
Exploring the drug efflux pump MDR1 in PROTAC resistance

James Duncan, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at Fox Chase Cancer Center in the Cancer Signaling and Epigenetics Program.  He received both of his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Western Ontario and carried out his postdoctoral studies at the University of North Carolina.  The Duncan lab specializes in functional proteomics and cell signaling pathways, studying the role of protein kinases in the development of cancer and drug resistance. He has been applying mass spectrometry-based approaches including shotgun proteomics, phosphoproteomics and kinomics to study cancer signaling for nearly 20 years. The Duncan lab’s proteomics studies have defined mechanisms of drug action and resistance to a variety of molecular targeted agents, including PROTACs.

Holly Soutter, Wei Jiang
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
A biophysical toolkit for characterization of bifunctional molecules that induce ternary complex formation.

Holly Soutter is Director of Biochemistry and Biophysics within the Center for the Development of Therapeutics (CDoT) at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Her research unit supports projects across multiple therapeutic areas to identify, validate, and mechanistically characterize potential small molecule therapeutics. Her team has expertise and capabilities in multiple techniques including SPR, NMR, mass spectrometry, enzymology, and many others.  Dr. Soutter has more than 15 years of experience in drug discovery and development in large pharma and biotech. She is co-inventor of multiple clinical candidates, and has co-authored more than 20 scientific publications. She received her B.A. in chemistry from Hunter College, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in chemistry from Clark University.

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Wei Jiang is a Senior Research Scientist in the Biochemistry and Biophysics group within the Center for the Development of Therapeutics (CDoT) at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Dr. Jiang has been at the Broad for nearly a decade working on therapeutics projects across the CDoT portfolio, developing and executing a great number of protein-based biochemical and biophysical assays for drug development.  In 2019, she was recognized with a Broad Excellence Award in Extraordinary Work Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic for her contributions to rapidly establishing the Broad’s COVID testing capabilities.  She received her B.S. in Biochemistry from Nanjing University and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Penn State University.

October 27, 2022  

Host: Hojong Yoon

Lindsey James
University of North Carolina
Altering the H3 methylation landscape through degradation of methyl-lysine reader proteins

Lindsey James is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina. The James laboratory integrates expertise in organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, and chromatin biology in order to discover novel epigenetic inhibitors, while applying these inhibitors to develop an improved understanding of chromatin regulation and better define the role of epigenetic proteins in disease. She is also the Director of Chemical Biology within the Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery (CICBDD) where she collaborates closely with UNC faculty to provide medicinal chemistry and chemical biology expertise to bear on biological targets of therapeutic relevance. She obtained a B.A. in chemistry from Colgate University and a PhD in bioorganic chemistry from the University of North Carolina under the guidance of Professor Marcey Waters. She was a postdoctoral fellow in Stephen Frye’s group at the University of North Carolina and joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina as an Assistant Professor in 2019.

Michael Erb
Scripps Research Institute
Therapeutic opportunities revealed by and for targeted protein degradation.

Michael Erb is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute. He received his PhD from Harvard University under the mentorship of Dr. James Bradner and was then recruited to TSRI in October 2017 to lead an independent group as one of the inaugural Scripps Fellows. Dr. Erb is the recipient of an NIH Director’s Early Independence Award (2018) and an Ono Pharma Foundation Breakthrough Science Initiative Award (2020) and was promoted to Assistant Professor in July 2020. His laboratory is principally interested in modulating tumorigenic gene regulatory programs with pharmacological tools.