This event is part of the Clinical Translational Seminar Series
Andrew Mesecar, Ph. D.
Head, Dept. Biochemistry, Walther Professor & Deputy Director,
Purdue Cancer Center, Purdue University.
Dr. Mesecar received his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame and completed post doctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley. He is presently Head, Dept of Biochemistry and Walther Professor and Deputy Director Purdue Cancer Center, Purdue University. His lab’s main research interest is in the structure & function of enzymes that are important in cancer biology and bacterial & viral infections and to develop inhibitors to treat these diseases. To do this they use X-ray crystallography, as well as other functional analyses of the enzymes including many high-throughput approaches. To develop treatments for Covid-19, the Mesecar lab are targeting key proteases of its causative agent SARS-CoV-2. These proteases are needed for virus infection and proliferation in the host. They are also conserved in SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV viruses, suggesting Dr. Mesecar and his collaborators will develop broadly acting drugs for these deadly coronaviruses.