OCRID Pilot Project Leader Obtains 2 R01s!
Congratulation to Dr. Laura-Isobel McCall who has received TWO R01s totaling over $3.78 million in funding. Dr. McCall is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at University of Oklahoma, Norman. She joined OCRID in 2019, when she received her pilot project grant. Her lab uses cutting-edge analytical chemistry instrumentation to answer critical biological questions.
She received a NIGMS R01 titled “An LCMS-guided bioanalytical approach for rational natural product library design and optimization.” Dr. Robert Cichewicz serves as MPI for the R01. High-throughput screening of compound libraries is a fundamental starting point to drug development efforts, and natural product libraries are one of the most valuable sources of novel bioactive molecules. Until now there have been few evidence-based rules for the rational design of natural product libraries. Dr. McCall seeks to demonstrate the utility of bioanalytical liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to address this biological need, and lead to accelerated drug development in the long term.
Additionally, Dr. McCall was awarded a NIAID R01 titled “Deciphering the mechanism of action of carnitine, a novel treat for chronic Chagas disease.” Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi parasites, is an important cause of heart failure with no effective treatment in late-stage disease. Dr. McCall seeks to build on her findings that L-carnitine treatment improves chronic Trypanosoma cruzi infection severity, to determine the mechanism of action of L-carnitine in chronic Chagas disease treatment.