Research Interests
My lab's research program is inspired by both nature and giants of science. We will investigate topics at the interface of synthetic chemistry, radiopharmaceutical, and cancer biology, focusing on cyclic peptides. A major aspect of my program will be developing synthetic methods to access complex "fluorinated macrocyclic peptides" as a starting point to discover novel radiotheranostic agents. My lab's chemical biology efforts will investigate the role of fluorination in peptide folding, cell membrane permeability, target binding affinities, and pharmacological properties. Additional efforts will focus on developing methods for biorthogonal, chemoselective, and facile 18F-fluorination of unprotected peptides. In addition to the chemical synthesis of fluorinated macrocyclic peptides, my lab will develop display systems such as phage display or mRNA display to screen fluorinated macrocyclic peptide ligands for cancer biomarkers and targets. To enable this, we will genetically encode fluorinated amino acids to the macrocyclic peptides. By integrating chemical and biological evolution techniques, my lab will dedicate to unveil the capacity of fluorinated macrocyclic peptides and establish a multifunctional system to identify and construct fluorinated macrocyclic peptide-based therapeutics.
