Dr. Michael Kienzler

Departent of Chemistry at the University of Connecticut

Host: Dr. Brett VanVeller

Organic Chemistry

"Photopharmacology of ion channels for the modulation of pain"

Chemical photoswitches are small organic molecules that reversibly convert between two forms, depending on the color of light irradiating them.  When synthetically combined with pharmacologically active molecules, they can directly modulate protein function with excellent spatiotemporal precision.  In this talk I will focus on the design, synthesis, and characterization of two sets of photoswitches that reversibly inhibit calcium and potassium ion channels, and how both sets can be used to modulate pain responses.

Bio:

I obtained a B.S. in chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, including a 2 year stint in Germany at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität. A year working for a biotech startup in San Francisco was followed by postdoctoral work in a molecular neuroscience lab at University of California, Berkeley. I started my independent carrier at the University of Maine in the fall of 2016, and on January 1^st 2021 I moved my lab to UConn.