Kevin Dalby

Kevin Dalby, Ph.D. is a Professor of Chemical Biology & Medicinal Chemistry and the Johnson & Johnson Centennial Professor at The University of Texas at Austin, College of Pharmacy. He serves as Director of the Targeted Therapeutic Drug Discovery & Development Program (TTP) and Director of the University of Texas at Austin, College of Pharmacy Pharm.D. Honors Program and Pharm.D. Ph.D. Concurrent Program.

Dr. Dalby received his BSc in Chemistry from The University of Leeds (1985-1989) and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from The University of Cambridge (1989-1992). He completed postdoctoral training at Brandeis University (1992-1994) and the University of Dundee (1994-1997).

Dr. Dalby's research program focuses on cancer cell signaling and therapeutics, with particular emphasis on understanding the cellular and biochemical properties of signaling proteins like protein kinases. His work aims to determine how these proteins are regulated, how they perform their functions, and how this knowledge can be used to design novel therapeutic strategies to target human cancers. Key research areas include the molecular mechanisms of signal transduction, novel strategies to inhibit aberrant signaling in cancer cells, mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), and Elongation Factor 2 kinase (eEF-2K).

Analysis of Dr. Dalby's recent publications reveals a strong focus on kinase signaling pathways in cancer, particularly in breast cancer and melanoma. His work spans basic biochemical characterization of kinases to drug discovery efforts targeting these enzymes. There is a clear progression from fundamental mechanistic studies to translational applications, with increasing emphasis on developing targeted therapeutics for aggressive cancer subtypes and understanding resistance mechanisms.

Dr. Dalby has received significant recognition for his work, including:

• Johnson & Johnson Centennial Professorship
• Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) grant

Through his leadership of the Pharm.D. Honors Program and Pharm.D./Ph.D. Concurrent Program, Dr. Dalby mentors numerous students in research projects. His Targeted Therapeutic Drug Discovery & Development Program (TTP) provides researchers with access to cutting-edge technologies and expertise to enable the translation of research into new cancer treatments. The TTP utilizes a truly integrated approach of targeted molecular drug discovery, uniting every key discipline to achieve goals in a single platform.

Dr. Dalby's laboratory focuses on two main research areas: 1) molecular mechanisms of signal transduction in cancer, and 2) novel strategies to inhibit aberrant signaling in cancer cells. His team has made significant contributions to understanding MAPK signaling and eEF-2K regulation, with implications for developing new cancer therapeutics.