Daniel Nomura

From Justapedia, unleashing the power of collective wisdom
Jump to navigation Jump to search
DanNomura 017v2.jpg
Daniel Nomura
Born1981 (age 42–43)
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley, BA; University of California, Berkeley, PhD
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry, Molecular Toxicology, Chemical Biology
Institutions

Daniel K. Nomura is a Professor of Chemical Biology and Molecular Therapeutics at the University of California, Berkeley, in the Departments of Chemistry and Molecular & Cell Biology. His work employs chemoproteomic approaches to develop small molecule therapeutics and therapeutic modalities against traditionally "undruggable" proteins.[1]

He is a member of the scientific advisory committee of the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, a foundation set up by billionaire Alexander Knaster which funds early-stage cancer research. [2]

Research and education

Nomura received his BA in Molecular and Cell Biology and PhD in Molecular Toxicology from UC Berkeley, studying under the mentorship of John Casida. He went on to perform his postdoctoral research with Ben Cravatt at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California. There he discovered a role for monoacylglycerol lipase in generating oncogenic signaling lipids that promote cancer[3] and in proinflammatory cascades that impact neurodegenerative disorders.[4] In 2011, Nomura started his independent research group at UC Berkeley. His work focuses on implementing chemoproteomic platforms to develop small molecule therapeutics against traditionally "undruggable" proteins. These approaches have led to the discovery of novel inhibitors and new ligands that expand the scope of proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACS),[5] which are bifunctional molecules that harness the cells ubiquitin-proteasome system to degrade targets of interest. Notable recent discoveries include an inhibitor of mTORC1,[6] a molecular glue that links UBR7 and p53,[7] and novel nimbolide-based scaffold for the recruitment of the E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF114.[8] In 2017, Nomura became the Director of the Novartis-Berkeley Translational Chemical Biology Institute,[9][10] which aims to develop technologies and therapeutics against undruggable targets. Nomura is a co-founder of Frontier Medicines and Vicinitas Therapeutics.[11] In 2020, in response to the pandemic, Nomura and his group began leveraging their discovery platforms in search of drugs to treat COVID19.[12]

Awards

  • 2010 NIH Pathway to Independence (PI) Award (K99/R00)
  • 2012 Searle Scholar Award
  • 2013 Eicosanoid Research Foundation Young Investigator Award
  • 2015 DOD Breakthroughs Award Recipient
  • 2015 ACS Research Scholar Award
  • 2019 Mark Foundation for Cancer Research ASPIRE award [13] [14]
  • 2022 NCI Outstanding Investigator Award

References

  1. ^ "Novartis and Berkeley researchers team up to tackle the industry's toughest drug targets". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  2. ^ "Daniel Nomura, PhD". 26 January 2021.
  3. ^ Nomura, Daniel K.; Long, Jonathan Z.; Niessen, Sherry; Hoover, Heather S.; Ng, Shu-Wing; Cravatt, Benjamin F. (2010-01-08). "Monoacylglycerol lipase regulates a fatty acid network that promotes cancer pathogenesis". Cell. 140 (1): 49–61. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2009.11.027. ISSN 1097-4172. PMC 2885975. PMID 20079333.
  4. ^ Nomura, Daniel K.; Morrison, Bradley E.; Blankman, Jacqueline L.; Long, Jonathan Z.; Kinsey, Steven G.; Marcondes, Maria Cecilia G.; Ward, Anna M.; Hahn, Yun Kyung; Lichtman, Aron H.; Conti, Bruno; Cravatt, Benjamin F. (2011-11-11). "Endocannabinoid hydrolysis generates brain prostaglandins that promote neuroinflammation". Science. 334 (6057): 809–813. Bibcode:2011Sci...334..809N. doi:10.1126/science.1209200. ISSN 1095-9203. PMC 3249428. PMID 22021672.
  5. ^ Jarvis, Lisa M. "Targeted protein degraders are redefining how small molecules look and act". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  6. ^ Chung, Clive Yik-Sham; Shin, Hijai R.; Berdan, Charles A.; Ford, Breanna; Ward, Carl C.; Olzmann, James A.; Zoncu, Roberto; Nomura, Daniel K. (August 2019). "Covalent targeting of the vacuolar H+-ATPase activates autophagy via mTORC1 inhibition". Nature Chemical Biology. 15 (8): 776–785. doi:10.1038/s41589-019-0308-4. ISSN 1552-4469. PMC 6641988. PMID 31285595.
  7. ^ Isobe, Yosuke; Okumura, Mikiko; McGregor, Lynn M.; Brittain, Scott M.; Jones, Michael D.; Liang, Xiaoyou; White, Ross; Forrester, William; McKenna, Jeffrey M.; Tallarico, John A.; Schirle, Markus (2020-06-22). "Manumycin polyketides act as molecular glues between UBR7 and P53". Nature Chemical Biology. 16 (11): 1189–1198. doi:10.1038/s41589-020-0557-2. ISSN 1552-4469. PMC 7572527. PMID 32572277. S2CID 219976949.
  8. ^ Spradlin, Jessica N.; Hu, Xirui; Ward, Carl C.; Brittain, Scott M.; Jones, Michael D.; Ou, Lisha; To, Milton; Proudfoot, Andrew; Ornelas, Elizabeth; Woldegiorgis, Mikias; Olzmann, James A. (July 2019). "Harnessing the anti-cancer natural product nimbolide for targeted protein degradation". Nature Chemical Biology. 15 (7): 747–755. doi:10.1038/s41589-019-0304-8. ISSN 1552-4469. PMC 6592714. PMID 31209351.
  9. ^ "Novartis, UC Berkeley join forces for 'undruggable' targets". FierceBiotech. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  10. ^ Staff, Hyunkyu Michael Lee | (2017-10-02). "UC Berkeley researchers partners with Novartis to develop new cures". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  11. ^ "C&EN's 2019 10 Start-Ups to Watch". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  12. ^ "An Expert on "Undruggable" Targets Tackles the Coronavirus". The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research. 2020-09-29. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  13. ^ "Daniel Nomura, PhD". 26 January 2021.
  14. ^ "Daniel Nomura receives ASPIRE Award from the Mark Foundation | College of Chemistry".
Retrieved from "https://justapedia.org/index.php?title=Daniel_Nomura&oldid=1114949294"