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Robert Kerns, PhD

Professor

Introduction

Work in Dr. Kerns’ lab is directed toward the design and synthesis of new pharmaceutical agents to treat disease. His research group is involved in numerous interdisciplinary translational research programs focused on the design, synthesis, and evaluation of novel bioactive small molecule therapeutics. Ongoing projects include optimizing lead structures as chemical probes to validate new drug targets and as lead compounds for further development as new therapeutics for the treatment of diseases including cancer, heart disease, drug-resistant infections, and diabetes. The Kerns lab is also working to develop new mitochondria-targeted molecular probes and therapeutic agents.

Current Positions

  • Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Experimental Therapeutics
  • Professor of Chemistry

Education

  • BS in Chemistry, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, United States
  • PhD in Medicinal & Natural Products Chemistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
  • Postdoctoral Fellow in Organic Chemistry and Molecular Recognition, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, United States

Research Interests

  • Drug Discovery

Selected Publications

  • Yin, T.; Van Vranken, J.G.; Srivastava, D.; Mittal, A.; Buscaglia, P.; Moore, A.E.;  Verdinez, J.A.; Graham, A.; Walsh, S.A.; Acevedo, M.A.; Kerns, R.J.; Artemyev, N.O.; Gygi, S.P.; Sebag, J.A. Insulin Sensitization by Small Molecules Enhancing GLUT4 translocation. Cell Chemical Biology 2023, 30(8):933-942 PMID: 37453421 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2023.06.012.
  • Carter, H. E., Wildman, B., Schwanz, H. A., Kerns, R. J. & Aldred, K. J. (2023). Role of the Water-Metal Ion Bridge in Quinolone Interactions with Escherichia coli Gyrase. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES 24 (3). DOI: 10.3390/ijms24032879.
  • Gruenwald, H. K. & Kerns, R. J. (2022). Stability of Phenyl-Modified Triphenylphosphonium Conjugates and Interactions with DTPA. ACS OMEGA 7 (51) 48332-48339. DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.2c06525.
  • Gunasekar, S.K.; Xie, L.; Kumar, A.; Hong, J.; Chheda, P.R.; Kang, C.; Kern, D.M.; My-Ta1, C.; Maurer, J.; Heebink, J.; Gerber, E.E.; Wojciech, J.; Grzesik, W.J.; Elliot-Hudson, M.; Zhang, Y.; Key, P.; Kulkarni, C.A.; Beals, J.W.; Smith, G.I.; Samuel, I.; Smith, J.K.; Nau, P.; Imai, Y.; Sheldon, R.D.; Taylor, E.B.; Lerner, D.J.; Norris, A.W.; Klein, S.; Brohawn, S.G.; Kerns, R.J.; Sah, R. Small molecule SWELL1-LRRC8 complex induction improves systemic glycemia and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in murine Type 2 diabetes. Nat Commun 2022, 13(1), 784. PMCID: PMC8831520
  • Chheda, P. R., Nieto, N., Kaur, S., Beck, J. M., Beck, J. R., Honzatko, R., Kerns, R. J. & Nelson, S. W. (2022). Promising antimalarials targeting apicoplast DNA polymerase from Plasmodium falciparum. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY 243. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2022.114751.
  • Fosdick, M. G., Chheda, P. R., Tran, P. M., Wolff, A., Peralta, R., Zhang, M. Y., Kerns, R. & Houtman, Jon C. D. (2021). Suppression of human T cell activation by derivatives of glycerol monolaurate. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS 11 (1). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88584-y.
  • Fink, B. D., Yu, L., Coppey, L., Obrosov, A., Shevalye, H., Kerns, R. J., Yorek, M. A. & Sivitz, William, I (2021). Effect of mitoquinone on liver metabolism and steatosis in obese and diabetic rats. Pharmacology research & perspectives 9 (1) e00701. DOI: 10.1002/prp2.701. PMID: 33547885. PMCID: PMC7866483.
  • Kulkarni, C. A., Fink, B. D., Gibbs, B. E., Chheda, P. R., Wu, M., Sivitz, William, I & Kerns, R. J. (2021). A Novel Triphenylphosphonium Carrier to Target Mitochondria without Uncoupling Oxidative Phosphorylation. Journal of medicinal chemistry 64 (1) 662-676. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c01671. PMID: 33395531.
  • Fink, B.; Coppey, L.; Davidson, E.; Shevalye, H.; Obrosov, A.; Chheda, P.R.; Kerns, R.J.; Sivitz, W.I.; Yorek, M. Effect of Mitoquinone (Mito-Q) on Neuropathic Endpoints in an Obese and Type 2 Diabetic Rat Model. Free Radical Research, 2020 54(5) 311-318. PMCID: PMC7329571
  • Aguirre, A. L., Chheda, P. R., Lentz SRC, Held, H. A., Groves, N. P., Hiasa, H. & Kerns, R. J. (2020). Identification of an ethyl 5,6-dihydropyrazolo[1,5-c]quinazoline-1-carboxylate as a catalytic inhibitor of DNA gyrase. Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry 28 (10) 115439. DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2020.115439. PMID: 32234278. PMCID: PMC7331940.