School of Medicine
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Stefania Demuro
Postdoctoral Scholar, Chemical and Systems Biology
BioStefania received her master’s degree in pharmaceutical chemistry from the University of Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy) and later moved to Philadelphia to conduct organic chemistry research at the University of Pennsylvania. Returning to Italy, she completed her Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Bologna in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Technology, focusing on the development of first-in-class triple protein kinase inhibitors for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and related tauopathies (Prof. Andrea Cavalli).
As part of her doctoral training, Stefania spent time at UC San Diego in Prof. Carlo Ballatore’s group, where she developed novel microtubule stabilizers for the treatment of tauopathies.
Drawn to the interconnection between chemistry and biology, and after applying her medicinal chemistry expertise to research in diabetes and neuropathic pain at Stanford ChEM-H, she joined the Chen Lab to investigate the role of ALDH1B1 in tumorigenesis and HIPK4 as a target for male contraception. -
Justin Du Bois
Henry Dreyfus Professor of Chemistry and Professor, by courtesy, of Chemical and Systems Biology
BioResearch and Scholarship
Research in the Du Bois laboratory spans reaction methods development, natural product synthesis, and chemical biology, and draws on expertise in molecular design, molecular recognition, and physical organic chemistry. An outstanding goal of our program has been to develop C–H bond functionalization processes as general methods for organic chemistry, and to demonstrate how such tools can impact the logic of chemical synthesis. A second area of interest focuses on the role of ion channels in electrical conduction and the specific involvement of channel subtypes in the sensation of pain. This work is enabled in part through the advent of small molecule modulators of channel function.
The Du Bois group has described new tactics for the selective conversion of saturated C–H to C–N and C–O bonds. These methods have general utility in synthesis, making possible the single-step incorporation of nitrogen and oxygen functional groups and thus simplifying the process of assembling complex molecules. To date, lab members have employed these versatile oxidation technologies to prepare natural products that include manzacidin A and C, agelastatin, tetrodotoxin, and saxitoxin. Detailed mechanistic studies of metal-catalyzed C–H functionalization reactions are performed in parallel with process development and chemical synthesis. These efforts ultimately give way to advances in catalyst design. A long-standing goal of this program is to identify robust catalyst systems that afford absolute control of reaction selectivity.
In a second program area, the Du Bois group is exploring voltage-gated ion channel structure and function using the tools of chemistry in combination with those of molecular biology, electrophysiology, microscopy and mass spectrometry. Much of this work has focused on studies of eukaryotic Na and Cl ion channels. The Du Bois lab is interested in understanding the biochemical mechanisms that underlie channel subtype regulation and how such processes may be altered following nerve injury. Small molecule toxins serve as lead compounds for the design of isoform-selective channel modulators, affinity reagents, and fluorescence imaging probes. Access to toxins and modified forms thereof (including saxitoxin, gonyautoxin, batrachotoxin, and veratridine) through de novo synthesis drives studies to elucidate toxin-receptor interactions and to develop new pharmacologic tools to study ion channel function in primary cells and murine pain models.
