
Position Title
Professor
Position Title
Professor
- Pharmacology
Bio
Education:
- University of Kiel, Germany, MS Pharmaceutical Sciences 1993
- University of Kiel, Germany, PhD Medicinal Chemistry 1998
- University of California, Irvine, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Postdoc 1999-2003
Research Interests:
Potassium ion channels, Pharmacology
Research Summary:
As a pharmacologist and medicinal chemist I am fascinated by the largely untapped therapeutic potential of ion channel modulation and have made it my research aim to develop specific ion channel modulators as research tools and as potential drugs for the treatment of autoimmune, cardiovascular and neurological diseases. The primary focus of the work in my laboratory is the role of the voltage-gated K+ channel Kv1.3 and the calcium-activated K+ channel KCa3.1 in the immune system. After successfully designing potent and selective blockers for both channels and demonstrating that Kv1.3 and KCa3.1 indeed constitute novel targets for immunosuppression, we more recently embarked on the design of KCa2/3 channel activators as potential therapeutics for neurological diseases such as epilepsy and ataxia. My long-term goal is to translate at least one of the channel targets validated by our work into a clinically used therapy.
Highlighted Techniques:
Electrophysiology (whole-cell and inside-out patch-clamp), Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacokinetics (UPLC/MS), Animal models of autoimmune disease and inflammation
Lab Rotation Availability: Maybe
PubMed listing