معرفی
Liz Hedstrom is a Professor of Biology and Chemistry at Brandeis University, holding a primary appointment in the Department of Biology and an affiliated appointment in the Department of Chemistry. Her research laboratory operates at the interface between chemistry and biology, focusing on several key areas of biomedical importance.
Her research interests span several interconnected fields including targeted protein degradation, antimicrobial discovery, enzyme structure-function studies, and mTOR inhibitors. Dr. Hedstrom's work on targeted protein degradation has pioneered strategies for ubiquitin-independent degradation, where small molecules localize target proteins directly to the proteasome. Her antimicrobial research has exploited the divergence of the cofactor binding site in IMPDH to identify pathogen-selective inhibitors with activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other bacterial pathogens.
Her laboratory's publication record demonstrates consistent productivity across multiple research fronts. Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong focus on bacterial and parasitic enzyme targets, particularly IMP dehydrogenase (IMPDH), with applications in tuberculosis treatment, Cryptosporidium infection, and other antimicrobial applications. Her work increasingly incorporates protein degradation strategies as a novel therapeutic approach.
Dr. Hedstrom has received numerous prestigious awards throughout her career including the Searle Scholar Award (1993-1996), Beckman Young Investigator Award (1995-1997), NSF CAREER Award (1995-1999), Louis D. Brandeis Teaching Award (2007), AAAS Fellowship (2010), and most recently the NIH Director's Transformative Research Award (2020).
Her research has been supported by significant grant funding from the National Institutes of Health and other major funding agencies. She has mentored numerous graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who have gone on to successful careers in academia and industry. Her collaborative approach is evident through co-authorship with researchers across multiple institutions including Brandeis colleagues in the Kadener, Bisson, Marr, and Theobald laboratories.
The Hedstrom Laboratory, recognized as a 2020 NIH Director's Transformative Research Awardee, employs a multidisciplinary team approach combining techniques from molecular biology, organic synthesis, protein crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, protein purification, enzyme kinetics, and mutagenesis to address complex problems at the chemistry-biology interface.
