Warren Wakarchuk

Warren Wakarchuk is a Professor in the Biological Sciences Department at the University of Alberta's Faculty of Science. His research focuses on enzymology of glycoconjugates, synthetic biology applications for glycobiology, and bacterial protein glycosylation. He investigates enzymes involved in creating glycan mimics in pathogens and their therapeutic applications, including designer enzymes and synthetic operons for biosynthetic pathways. His lab also explores O-mannosylation in bacteria and its evolutionary conservation.

Teaching: He instructs BIOL 514 (Advanced Molecular and Cellular Biology), focusing on scientific writing, data visualization, and peer review for graduate students. This course emphasizes practical skills for thesis research dissemination.

Research Trends: Recent articles highlight advancements in O-glycosylation engineering for antibodies, polysialic acid modulation, and lipid nanoparticle delivery systems. His work bridges fundamental glycobiology with applied biotechnology, addressing both mechanistic questions (e.g., clathrin-mediated endocytosis regulation via O-GlcNAc) and translational goals (e.g., therapeutic glycoprotein design).

Lab Activities: The Wakarchuk lab uses glycoproteomics and synthetic biology tools to study protein glycosylation mechanisms. Current projects include characterizing novel glycosyltransferases, optimizing enzyme activity through screening platforms, and developing bacterial expression systems for complex glycans.