معرفی
Caitlin E. Karver serves as Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry within DePaul University's College of Science and Health. As a full-time faculty member, she teaches Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Chemical Biology, Medicinal Chemistry, Drugs and Toxicology, Nutrition, and Masters-level Medicinal Chemistry courses from her office in McGowan South 321D and laboratory in McGowan South 325.
Her research program centers on inflammatory caspases (caspase-1, -4, -5) as therapeutic targets for autoimmune diseases. Dr. Karver's laboratory develops chemical probes including small-molecule inhibitors and selective peptide substrates, utilizing fluorogenic assays, FRET technology, and kinetic analysis to establish structure-activity relationships. Key methodologies involve organic synthesis of inhibitor libraries, spectroscopic characterization of substrates, and Michaelis-Menten kinetics for enzyme profiling.
Analysis of her 2015-2024 publications reveals sustained innovation in caspase-targeted drug discovery, with recent work (2024) emphasizing triaminopyrimidine-based inhibitors and advanced fluorogenic assay design. Her research integrates organic synthesis, biochemical kinetics, and computational modeling to develop anti-inflammatory therapeutics, showing increasing sophistication in inhibitor selectivity and assay precision over time.
Dr. Karver actively contributes to university governance through the Academic Program Review Committee, Grade Challenge Review Board, CSH Pre-health Advising Committee (which she chairs), Health Sciences Faculty Council, and multiple curriculum committees. She maintains professional affiliations with the American Chemical Society and International Society for Chemical Biology.
