Don Ronning, PhD
Dr. Ronning’s research foci are the discovery and development of novel anti-infective and anti-cancer compounds. The anti-infective drug discovery efforts are particularly interested on identifying and developing compounds possessing efficacy for treating Tuberculosis, but many targets are relevant to other bacterial pathogens.
As a part of this discovery process, the research aims to understand the mechanistic details of protein function through structural characterization and enzyme kinetic studies, and to use that knowledge to identify inhibitors, assess mechanisms of inhibition, and detail the modes of interaction with the target protein. In addition, new cancer projects include understanding and targeting DNA repair mechanisms in Ovarian Cancer as well as lead optimization of compounds for treating Medulloblastoma.