Dillon P. Cogan

Dillon P. Cogan serves as Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the USC Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Southern California, joining the faculty in 2023 after completing an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University.

His academic credentials include:

• Ph.D. in Biochemistry from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2019)
• B.S. in Chemistry from Michigan State University (2013)

Dr. Cogan's research program centers on microbial protein technologies for programmable biomolecule synthesis and detection, with dual focus on modular polyketide synthases for bioactive compound generation and two-component signal transduction systems for cellular response regulation. His interdisciplinary approach integrates biochemical, structural, and computational methodologies to characterize natural biocatalysts and biosensors.

Key research domains span Natural Product Biosynthesis, Structural Biology, Enzymology, Biocatalysis, Signal Transduction, Biosensors, Drug Discovery, Antibiotics, Protein Engineering, Host-Microbe Interactions, and Human Microbiome studies.

His publication record (2017-2022) demonstrates consistent advancement in structural enzymology of natural product biosynthesis, particularly revealing mechanistic insights into polyketide assembly lines and thiopeptide antibiotic formation through innovative structural biology approaches.

Professional recognition includes:

• NIH F32 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellowship

Dr. Cogan currently leads an NIH/NIGMS-funded research program (Mechanistic Studies of Polyketide Synthases Enabled by Unnatural Amino Acids and Antibody Fragment Structural Tools, 2020) while mentoring trainees in the Cogan Lab.

The Cogan Lab operates at the intersection of microbial biochemistry and therapeutic development, employing cross-disciplinary techniques to engineer protein-based solutions for medical and environmental challenges through fundamental studies of biosynthesis and biosensing mechanisms.