Molecular and Cellular Technologies Lab (MCTL)

Focus

The lab mission is to develop molecular and cellular solutions addressing important challenges in biomedical science and clinical medicine. We create small molecules, engineered proteins and cell-based tools that can "light up" and control in vivo biology using principles of chemical and synthetic biology.

When possible, our technologies are translated to the clinic using nuclear medicine and molecular imaging techniques. For example, our group recently pioneered the development, preclinical testing, and human application of a new class of positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers based on the small molecule antibiotic trimethoprim. These molecules have diverse applications in our broad fields of investigation including cancer biology, immunology, and infectious disease.