Bio

Michelle Miranda (she/her) is a postdoctoral scholar in the Dodd Lab in the Pathology Department. Her research interest lies in bridging science and medicine by implementing core chemistry to study and improve human health.

Honors & Awards

  • Propel Postdoctoral Scholars Program, Stanford (2023)

Professional Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Florida International University, Chemistry (2022)
  • Master of Science, Florida International University, Organic Chemistry (2020)
  • Bachelor of Science, University of Tampa, Forensic Chemistry (2015)

Stanford Advisors

Patents

  • Joong Ho Moon, Michelle Miranda-Vélez. "United States Patent 11,857,521 B1 Anti-mycobacterial drugs", Jan 2, 2024

Additional Info

Links

All Publications

  • Proton Motive Force-Disrupting Antimycobacterial Guanylurea Polymer BIOMACROMOLECULES Miranda-Velez, M., Sarker, G., Ramisetty, P., Geden, S., Halicki, P., Annamalai, T., Tse-Dinh, Y., Rohde, K. H., Moon, J. 2022; 23 (11): 4668-4677

    Abstract

    Mycobacterial infectious diseases, including tuberculosis (TB), severely threaten global public health. Nonreplicating Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is extremely difficult to eradicate using current TB drugs that primarily act on replicating cells. Novel TB drugs acting on unconventional targets are needed to combat TB efficiently. Although membrane-disrupting antimicrobial peptides and their synthetic mimics exhibit the potential to kill persisters, the lack of microbe selectivity, especially toward mycobacteria, has been a concern. Here, we report that the recently developed poly(guanylurea)-piperazine (PGU-P) shows fast and selective mycobactericidal effects. Using a nonpathogenic model organism, Mycobacterium smegmatis (Msm), we have found that the mycobactericidal effects of PGU-P are correlated to the disruption of the mycobacterial membrane potential and bioenergetics. Accordingly, PGU-P also potentiates bedaquiline, an oxidative phosphorylation-targeting TB drug disturbing mycobacterial bioenergetics. Importantly, PGU-P also exhibits a promising activity against pathogenic Mtb with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 37 μg/mL. Our results support that PGU-P is a novel class of antimycobacterial biomaterial, and the unique structural feature can contribute to developing novel antimycobacterial drugs.

    View details for DOI 10.1021/acs.biomac.2c00902

    View details for Web of Science ID 000884681200001

    View details for PubMedID 36318670

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2718-8835