Scaling GLP 1 Receptor Tools Through Academia Industry Collaboration

How do GPCR tools move from individual academic labs into broad use across the research community?

In this episode of the Dr. GPCR Podcast, leaders from academia and biotech unpack what effective collaboration really looks like when developing, validating, and distributing GPCR research tools.

Joining the conversation are Maria Majellaro (CSO and co-founder of Celtarys Research), Johannes Broichhagen, and David Hodson. Together, we discuss how gpcr drug discovery advances when chemists, biologists, and industry partners align around rigor, trust, and accessibility. The episode explores gpcr internalization, fluorescence-based probe design, and how functional assay development benefits from scalable distribution rather than ad-hoc sharing.

Listeners will walk away with a clearer view of how academic innovation translates into tools for high-throughput screening, and why availability can be as impactful as discovery itself.

Why This Matters

• How GPCR tools lose impact when distribution and access aren’t planned from the start

• Why fluorescence-based assays outperform antibodies for studying receptor localization and trafficking

• What changes when academia and biotech share priorities instead of working in parallel

• When industry partnerships become essential for reproducibility and scale

• The moment when availability—not innovation—becomes the bottleneck in GPCR research

Who Should Listen

This episode is for scientists and leaders who are:

• Navigating the transition from academic tool development to real-world adoption

• Balancing innovation with validation in GPCR assay design

• Building reagents that must work in complex tissues, not just simplified models

• Exploring academia–industry collaboration but want to understand how it works in practice

This conversation is part three of a three episode series produced in collaboration with our partners at Celtarys Research.

🎧 Listen to Part 1 with Dr. Hudson

🎧 Catch up on Part 2 with Dr. Broichhagen

About the Guests

Maria Majellaro, PhD

Dr. Maria Majellaro is the Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of Celtarys Research, a biotech spin-off from the University of Santiago de Compostela focused on advanced fluorescent ligands and GPCR research tools. She earned her PhD in medicinal chemistry from the University of Bari in 2018, including research training at the CIQUS Research Center in Spain.

Following her PhD, she joined Prof. Eddy Sotelo’s group at CIQUS as a postdoctoral researcher, where the scientific foundations of Celtarys were established. Since co-founding the company in 2021, she has led all scientific activities, from proprietary technology development to international collaborations and funded research projects. Her work centers on GPCR modulators, synthetic chemistry, and enabling robust biological assays through high-quality chemical tools.

Johannes Broichhagen, PhD

Dr. Johannes Broichhagen is a group leader at the Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) in Berlin. Trained as a chemist, he studied at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg and completed his PhD at LMU Munich, followed by postdoctoral research at EPFL in Switzerland.

His research focuses on bottom-up chemical tool development for imaging and interrogating GPCRs and other cell-surface proteins in complex biological systems. By combining fluorophore design, ligand chemistry, and pharmacology, his work enables precise visualization of receptor localization, dynamics, and function across tissues.

David Hodson, PhD

Dr. David Hodson is the Robert Turner Professor of Diabetic Medicine at the University of Oxford and a leading expert in metabolic GPCR biology. Originally trained as a veterinary surgeon, he conducted postdoctoral research at the CNRS in Montpellier before establishing independent laboratories at Imperial College London and later the University of Birmingham.

His research focuses on class B GPCRs, including the GLP-1 and GIP receptors, with an emphasis on understanding how these receptors operate within complex tissues such as the pancreas and brain. By integrating advanced tools and translational biology, his work directly informs therapeutic strategies for diabetes and obesity.

Guests on The Web

Maria Majellaro

• LinkedIn

• ResearchGate

• Ecosystem

  
  

Johannes Broichhagen

• LinkedIn

• Google Scholar 

• Lab Website 

• Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) Profile  

  
  

David Hodson

• Radcliffe Department of Medicine

• Islet Biology Lab

• University of Birmingham