Drug Discovery Drug Discovery is an emerging pharmacological science that seeks to identify novel small molecule probes and to understand at a molecular level how compounds affect macromolecular process. Cell-based, in vitro mix-and-read, and whole organism assays suitable for rapid or high throughput analysis are being designed and implemented by members of the Molecular Pharmacology Program. Current molecular targets include Gprotein coupled receptors, vanilloid receptors, cathepsins, apoptosis-inducing proteins, ion channels, steroid receptors, orphan nuclear receptors, kinases, phosphatases, DNA repair enzymes, and DNA polymerases. Chemical libraries and automated screening instrumentation are emphasized, which permit rapid interrogation of optimized assays. Computational approaches and high content cell screening methodologies are employed to facilitate the identification of new chemical probes. Faculty Chang, Fei Research Instructor fec29@pitt.edu 530-219-1806 Cifuentes Pagano, Eugenia Research Assistant Professor mec110@pitt.edu 412-648-2610 Fazzari, Marco Research Assistant Professor maf167@pitt.edu 412-626-2924 Freeman, Bruce Irwin Fridovich Distinguished Professor and ChairCell Signaling; Redox Reactions freerad@pitt.edu 412-648-9319 Huang, Yi Assistant Professor yih26@pitt.edu 412-641-3589 Jiang, Yu ProfessorSignaling mechanisms for cell growth control; Regulation of protein kinases and phosphatases yuj5@pitt.edu 412-648-3390 Pagano, Patrick ProfessorDevelopment of peptic, viral and small molecular inhibitors of NADPH oxidases and reactive species to assess NOX involvement in cardiovascular disease as well as to devise new therapies pagano@pitt.edu 412-383-6505 Palladino, Michael Professor & Vice Chair for Faculty AffairsCombined molecular and genetic approaches to identify key proteins required for neural maintenance with age and understand the role of these gene products in metabolic disease conditions mjp44@pitt.edu 412-383-5900 Schopfer, Francisco Associate Professor & Vice Chair for Biotechnology Development fjs2@pitt.edu 412-648-0193 Singh, Shivendra Professor and UPMC Chair in Cancer Prevention ResearchThe Singh laboratory focuses on preclinical and clinical investigations of novel agents derived from dietary (eg, broccoli) and medicinal plants (eg, Withania somnifera) for chemoprevention of cancers. svs2@pitt.edu 412-623-3262 Van Houten, Ben ProfessorMitochondrial dysfunction in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases , structure function of DNA repair enzymes/proteins. vanhoutenb@upmc.edu 412-623-7762 Wang, Lei Research Instructor lew72@pitt.edu 412-419-8438 Wang, Qiming Jane ProfessorTargeting protein kinase D by small molecular inhibitors for cancer therapy; signaling mechanisms of protein kinase D in cancer. qjw1@pitt.edu 412-383-7754 Zhang, Cheng Associate ProfessorStructural basis for G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling; development of GPCR antibodies through protein engineering. chengzh@pitt.edu 412-383-8044