Join the scientific exchange in the room with the scientist, not watching from the audience. Access 200+ expert sessions at Dr. GPCR University. University / Live Masterclass Sessions In the room with the scientist, not watching from the audience. Live scientific exchanges with leading GPCR experts. Interactive, question-driven, frontier science. This isn't a lecture — it's a conversation with the people shaping GPCR discovery. Masterclass is included inDr. GPCR University Try it for 14 days Upcoming live sessions Your next Live Masterclass Session is waiting Each session focuses on a specific pharmacology or GPCR discovery topic, led by a recognized expert. Live Q&A means your questions get real answers. September 10, 2026 Dr. Davide Calebiro | University of Birmingham The spatiotemporal organization of GPCR signalling Receptor Signaling Details October 8, 2026 Dr. Marsha Pierce | Midewestern University Introduction to GLP-1 pharmacology Translational Pharmacology & Disease Models Details What makes this different? Not a lecture. Not a webinar. A scientific exchange. The Masterclass was created because the most valuable insights in GPCR science aren't captured in papers or conference talks. Scientist-to-scientist discussion Extended Q&A allows deeper exploration than typical presentations. You're engaging directly with the expert — not submitting a question to a moderator. Beyond conference time limits Topics are explored in greater depth than standard conference talks allow. Sessions focus on scientific reasoning, data interpretation, and real discovery problems. Focused audience of specialists Sessions bring together GPCR researchers, pharmacologists, and discovery scientists. The conversation stays at the right level because everyone in the room speaks the same scientific language. Every session recorded Can't make it live? Every Masterclass is recorded and available on demand in the library. Revisit the science anytime — over 200 sessions and growing. On-demand library 200+ expert sessions, available anytime Full recordings of every Masterclass session. Revisit the science at your pace — filter by category, level, or instructor. Explore all Recorded Masterclasses → The scientists Learn directly from world leaders in GPCR research Andrew Tobin Marsha Pierce Terry Hébert Bryan Roth Matteo Pavan Terry Kenakin Jakob Höppner Samuel Hoare Yamina Berchiche Kenneth Jacobson Sudarshan Rajagopal What scientists say? From the people in the room Dr. Hoare is very experienced in the field. What came as a pleasant surprise was how didactical and well-thought-out his course was—highly recommended. The really unexpected was that the Q&A sessions reached the highest level—beyond excellent. I am a convert! I will keep Dr. GPCR and the offered resources in my work sphere GPCR researcher Thank you for bringing this course with Dr. Kenakin. I wish Dr. GPCR the best for the sake of promoting more educational opportunities that are sorely needed in the field GPCR researcher The content had enough depth to satisfy the hunger for theory while being full of practical knowledge GPCR researcher The best pharmacology teacher teaming up with the best GPCR community platform to help train and inspire the next generation of scientists. Also super-valuable for those of us learning how to teach pharmacology GPCR researcher Dr. Hoare's extensive and elaborative explanation of the topics at hand was excellent and very digestible. Thoroughly enjoyed learning from him GPCR researcher Dr. Kenakin is a leading expert in the field. Aside from his vast experience in drug development, not to mention his extensive publication record, Dr. Kenakin is a masterful teacher and communicator. GPCR researcher The course was very practical and easily translatable to experiments that we could do in our own labs. It was clear that Dr. Hoare is very in touch with the technical and human challenges we encounter in our work GPCR researcher About the GPCR Masterclass What is a GPCR Masterclass? The GPCR Masterclass is a live scientific discussion with a leading expert in GPCR pharmacology, receptor biology, or drug discovery. Sessions focus on research questions, experimental interpretation, and emerging challenges in GPCR science. Are the sessions live or recorded? Who should join? Can I watch sessions later if I miss the live event? Can I watch sessions later if I miss the live event? How do I fit this in my schedule? What makes the Masterclass different from reading papers or textbooks? What happens during the live discussion? Masterclass is included in Dr. GPCR University Live sessions, 200+ on-demand recordings, plus premium intelligence, jobs, events, and a community of GPCR scientists — all in one place. See what it feels like for 14 days. Try University for 14 days — $50 Your professional home in GPCR science. $499/year after trial.

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Advanced GPCR webinars for pharmacologists and biotech scientists. Live Q&A. Deep mechanistic insight. Reserve your seat. University / Free & Live Webinar Live GPCR Webinars with the World's Leading Experts. Deep-dive sessions focused on real pharmacology, real drug discovery challenges, and real translational insight. Live Q&A with the scientists shaping the field. Live for those who can be there. On demand for everyone else. 👉 Sign Up for Notifications Get the live link before each session Strategic Partners Webinars Upcoming Live & On Demand Webinars Tuning GPCR System Sensitivity: Revealing True Drug Activity Through Functional Volume Control Speaker: Dr. Terry Kenakin | Head Instructor Terry's Pharmacology Corner | UNC Chapel Holl What you'll learn during the session: How functional system sensitivity for receptor expression becomes a tool for determining the properties of a molecule Why testing agonists in low sensitivity systems separates affinity and efficacy and enables prediction of agonism in other systems How testing antagonists in high sensitivity systems detects low levels of efficacy and, through constitutive activity, inverse agonism How volume control reveals essential properties of allosteric modulators, including PAM-agonism and changes in efficacy 📅 September 24, 2026 at 11:00:00 AM Details Recombinant Antibodies for GPCRs: A Challenge to the Community Speakers Dr. Alexander Ball, MD Dr. Alexander Ball of GeneTex joins Dr. GPCR to walk through what the company is doing about it, and the challenge it comes with: A high-throughput recombinant antibody platform built for specificity at scale Prioritized validation: CRISPR KO/KD, endogenous expression, cell fractionation, comparable antibodies, application-specific testing VirDTM-GPCR arrays for cross-reactivity screening when feasible More than 300 recombinant mAbs against almost 200 human GPCRs, and growing Free samples for GPCR researchers who will test the antibodies in their own labs and give structured feedback 📅 June 25, 2026 at 11:00:00 AM Details Receptor Signaling Bias: A Valuable and Accessible Property of New Drug Candidates Speaker Dr. Terry Kenakin - UNC Chappel Hill | Terry's Pharmacology Corner Topics Covered The biological basis of receptor signaling bias and ligand-dependent conformations How to design functional assay panels that quantify bias rather than infer it Interpretation pitfalls and what assay system choice does to bias estimates Translating pathway-level data into lead selection and optimization decisions Why potency alone is not enough for candidate-level decisions 📅 May 28, 2026 at 11:00:00 AM Details 1 2 1 ... 1 2 ... 2 1,400+ Scientists in the Ecosystem 30+ Countries Represented 60–90 Scientists per Live Session Free Always. No Paywall. No Catch. Use It Tomorrow Practical takeaways, every session. Walk away with something you can apply in your next experiment, assay, or project decision. Together in the Room Scientists from around the world, in the same conversation. The chat, the Q&A, the shared curiosity — the community thinking together in real time. Free and Generous No paywall. No catch. The ecosystem gives this away because GPCR scientists deserve access to high-quality science. Sign up, show up, bring your questions. Direct Access Ask an expert a live question and get a real answer. That direct access doesn't exist at conferences — it exists here. No Borders Live for those who can be there. On demand for everyone else. The GPCR community doesn't stop at borders — and neither do we. Stay Ahead Learn about methods, tools, and approaches before they become widely known. Be ahead of colleagues who aren't in the ecosystem. What Makes These Webinars Different? Not a lecture. A scientific exchange. Built for the GPCR community, by the GPCR community. Every session is designed to move your science forward. First Dr. GPCR event? Welcome. This is what the community looks like — scientists from around the world, thinking through discovery challenges together. There's no paywall, no catch. Just real science and real exchange. If this is your first session, there's a lot more where this came from. Want to Go Deeper? This Is Just the Beginning If a free webinar is this good, imagine what the full ecosystem looks like. Dr. GPCR University brings you premium Masterclass sessions, 200+ recordings, weekly curated news, and a global community of GPCR scientists — all in one place. Webinar → Weekly News → 14-Day Trial → University Premium 👉 Sign Up for Notifications These sessions are part of a larger mission: building the most trusted home for GPCR scientists worldwide. Frequently Asked Questions Questions about the webinars What are GPCR webinars? GPCR webinars are free, live online scientific sessions focused on G protein-coupled receptor biology, pharmacology, signaling, and drug discovery. Each session explores mechanistic models, translational challenges, and real-world therapeutic implications through presentations and live Q&A. They're designed for scientists who want deep, data-driven discussion rather than surface-level overviews. Who should attend? Any scientist working with GPCRs — pharmacologists, medicinal chemists, cell biologists, translational researchers, discovery teams, postdocs, PIs, and industry scientists. Whether you're deep in receptor biology or evaluating assay tools, these sessions are built for you. Are the webinars free? Yes. Always. No paywall, no catch. Sign up with a free registration and you'll receive the live link before each session. Recordings are also freely available on demand afterward. Are the webinars live or pre-recorded? All webinars are live events with real-time Q&A — that's the point. After the live session, the full recording becomes available on demand so scientists in every time zone can access the same content and depth. How are these different from conference talks or academic seminars? The Q&A is the core, not an afterthought. These sessions are designed for interaction — scientists asking direct questions and getting real answers. There's no travel required, no registration fee, and you're in a room with researchers from dozens of countries who share your focus on GPCRs. What topics are typically covered? GPCR pharmacology, signaling, structural biology, allosteric modulation, biased agonism, assay design, drug discovery workflows, translational challenges, and the science behind emerging tools and methods. Every session is grounded in receptor biology with a focus on what's practical and applicable. Do I need prior knowledge of GPCR pharmacology? A working understanding of GPCR biology helps you get the most from each session. That said, the presenters are skilled at making complex science accessible, and the Q&A often covers foundational questions alongside advanced discussion. Where can I find more advanced GPCR training? If you want to go deeper, Dr. GPCR University offers premium Masterclass sessions with frontier science, unresolved questions, and extended scientific exchange — exclusively with independent scientists. The webinars are the open door; Masterclass is the room you earn access to. You can explore University with a 14-day trial. Be in the Room When the Science Moves Forward Sign up to get notifications about upcoming webinars. Bring your questions. 👉 Sign Up for Notifications

Dr. GPCR Podcast - The Voice of the Community Whether you’re a scientist, student, or just curious, you’ll hear about discoveries, career stories, and the latest GPCR news. Jump in and get inspired! Strategic Partners Latest Podcast Episodes Select by Guest Name 2026-09-09 2026-05-13 2026-03-18 2026-02-04 2026-06-10 2026-04-29 2026-03-04 2025-12-17 2026-05-27 2026-04-01 2026-02-18 2025-12-03 1 2 3 4 5 1 ... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 ... 16 Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player Listen and subscribe where you get your podcasts

Dr. Alexander Ball of GeneTex on the recombinant platform and validation strategy behind a challenge to GPCR researchers. Free live webinar, June 25. < Back to Webinars 📅 Thursday, June 25, 2026 at 11:00:00 AM EDT 🤝 Webinar in collaboration with: GeneTex Recombinant Antibodies for GPCRs: A Challenge to the Community Test them in your lab. Tell GeneTex what works and what doesn't. A reagent gap that holds back the biology GPCR activity is targeted by one-third of all FDA-approved drugs. Yet much remains to be learned about how these 800-plus receptors are expressed and how they function in living systems. Part of the gap is biology. Multipass transmembrane proteins are genuinely difficult targets. Part of the gap is the reagents. Reliable antibodies for human GPCRs are scarce, and without them, basic questions about expression and physiological function stay out of reach. Producing specific antibodies for human GPCRs is a formidable job. Expression levels in common cell lines are often low. Identifying an immunoreactive antigen sequence that is specific for a single receptor and detectable across applications is difficult on its own. The literature often disagrees on which antibodies actually work. Proving specificity for the intended GPCR is rarely straightforward. GeneTex is tackling that problem with a high-throughput recombinant antibody platform paired with enhanced validation strategies. The approach has already generated more than 300 recombinant monoclonal antibodies against almost 200 human GPCRs, and the catalog keeps growing. Inside the platform The production workflow is built to detect promising clones early and to hold specificity, scalability, and consistency steady once those clones are selected. Dr. Ball will walk through how the recombinant platform was built, what it takes to produce specific antibodies against multipass transmembrane targets including GPCRs at scale, and how the workflow handles the realities of low endogenous expression and tight specificity requirements. Validation that earns the catalog its place Every antibody is characterized through a prioritized validation set: CRISPR-based knockout and knockdown protocols, endogenous expression detection, cell fractionation, comparable antibody testing, and application-specific testing. When feasible, GeneTex uses VirDTM-GPCR arrays (CDI Labs, Mayagüez, PR), which present a nearly comprehensive library of human non-olfactory GPCRs individually expressed on herpes simplex virion envelopes for cross-reactivity screening. Dr. Ball will walk through each, explain why KO/KD testing is prioritized, and show how the validation data is shared with researchers. The challenge: test them in your lab This is the goal of the Dr. GPCR x GeneTex partnership. GeneTex is offering free samples of the recombinant antibodies to GPCR researchers in exchange for structured feedback, positive or negative. As Dr. Ball puts it in his own words, the primary goal is to get these reagents tested and evaluated by GPCR researchers. That is how a catalog earns the trust of the community, and how the community ends up with reagents it can actually rely on. Dr. Ball will explain how the challenge works, who it is for, and how to request samples. Speaker Dr. Alexander Ball , MD, Senior Scientist, GeneTex, Inc. Dr. Ball has been with GeneTex since 2012 and leads the company's enhanced antibody validation initiative. He earned an M.D. from the University of Southern California School of Medicine and completed internal medicine training at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. He transitioned from clinical medicine to academic research at UC Irvine, where he worked on protein complexes mediating chromosome dynamics. At GeneTex, that background shapes how he thinks about reagent quality. Antibodies are tools scientists depend on, and validation is not optional. Organizers GeneTex GeneTex is a multinational antibody manufacturer founded in San Antonio, Texas in 1997. Since 2020, its recombinant monoclonal antibody facility has produced reagents paired with enhanced validation protocols and a strong emphasis on KO/KD testing. The company's GPCR program is building a comprehensive catalog of recombinant monoclonal antibodies for the human nonsensory and orphan GPCRs. More than 300 recombinant monoclonal antibodies against almost 200 human GPCRs, and growing Prioritized validation: CRISPR KO/KD, endogenous expression, cell fractionation, comparable antibodies, application-specific testing VirDTM-GPCR arrays for specificity screening when feasible Free samples available to GPCR researchers willing to give structured feedback Yearly Glow Strategic Partner in the Dr. GPCR ecosystem Dr. GPCR Dr. GPCR is a nonprofit ecosystem dedicated to advancing GPCR-targeted drug discovery. Through curated intelligence, community engagement, podcasts, webinars, and editorial content, Dr. GPCR connects scientists, tools, and decision-makers across academia and industry, all year round. Previous Webinar Next Webinar Don’t Miss the Next Live Session Dr. GPCR membership gives you access to all upcoming live, interactive webinars. Free. Takes less than a minute to join. Cancel anytime. Sign Up for Free

Dr. Terry Hebert on why challenge trials weren't ready, what it takes to hold a GPCR signaling lab together during a pandemic, and the BRET-based beta-1 adrenergic paper that landed in lockdown. << Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Terry Hébert This resilience conversation with Dr. Terry Hebert was recorded in spring 2020, when Montreal was the national epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic and every non-essential bench in the country was shut. The discussion moves across three scientific registers: the practical mechanics of holding a GPCR signaling lab together remotely; the continuity of receptor pharmacology work already in the pipeline before the shutdown, including a newly accepted BRET-based platform for beta-1 adrenergic receptor signaling built with the Bouvier lab; and a pharmacologist's reasoning about the then-unresolved question of whether human challenge trials were an ethical shortcut to a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Dr. Hebert's argument — that challenge trials depend on a reliable therapeutic the field did not yet have — sits at the intersection of drug discovery logic and public health ethics, and illustrates how GPCR scientists reason about pharmacology problems well outside their primary receptor. For Dr. Hebert, the conversation is also about what he had to let go of: the assumption that a lab, once built, runs on its own inertia. About the Guest Dr. Terry Hebert is a professor at McGill University in Montreal, where his lab studies G protein-coupled receptor signaling. His research spans BRET-based assay platforms for characterizing signaling downstream of specific GPCRs, the transcriptional regulation of signaling components as an underappreciated axis of pharmacological modulation, and long-running collaborations on beta-adrenergic receptor biology with the Bouvier lab and others. His work is grounded in careful assay development and a conviction that the signaling space around a receptor is richer than single-pathway readouts suggest. Scientific Themes of the Conversation Lab continuity during institutional shutdown — What it takes to maintain scientific output when the physical lab is closed and every operation has to happen remotely. BRET platforms for GPCR signaling — The role of resonance-energy-transfer-based assays in capturing signaling downstream of specific receptors, with the beta-1 adrenergic receptor as a worked example. Challenge trials and the therapeutic floor — Why the ethics of accelerating vaccine trials depend on having an adequate treatment for the disease under study. Vaccine development at scale — How to read a landscape of 90+ parallel vaccine candidates without confusing breadth of effort for probability of success. Mentorship under isolation — The practical and emotional work of keeping graduate students — especially international students far from their families — connected to a lab that has gone quiet. Pandemic preparedness as a scientific failure — The gap between what infectious disease researchers had been warning about and what institutions were actually ready to do. Key Insights from the Conversation Challenge trials don't work without a reliable drug. Dr. Hebert's core pharmacology argument is that proposing a challenge trial — where volunteers receive placebo or active virus — is ethically unworkable without a therapeutic that can rescue the ones who get sick. His position is that the drug problem has to be solved, or at least bounded, before the vaccine trial design can responsibly change. 90 vaccine candidates is a number about effort, not probability. The conversation pushes against the comfort of large numbers. A field running 90 parallel vaccine trials is a field hedging under uncertainty, not a field with 90 independent chances of success. Dr. Hebert is hopeful but careful about the distinction. BRET platforms carry work forward when the lab can't. The beta-1 adrenergic receptor paper — a BRET-based platform for capturing downstream signaling, built with the Bouvier lab — illustrates how assay-development projects remain productive when benchwork stops. The experimental data was in hand before the shutdown; the intellectual work of writing, reviewing, and revising kept going regardless. A lab is a social infrastructure, not just a physical one. Weekly Monday lab meetings, Friday journal clubs, daily Slack and Zoom contact, a faculty-vs-student trivia night — the lab's continuity came from translating routines, not suspending them. The most fragile link in the system was the isolation of international students away from their families. Reopening is a puzzle about labs, not benches. The hardest logistical problem isn't social distancing within a single lab — it's social distancing between labs sharing a floor, shared equipment, and a public transit system that funnels everyone through the same bottleneck. The warnings were there. Dr. Hebert's reflection on preparedness is quiet but pointed: the scientific community had been warning about this for years. The failure wasn't epistemic — it was institutional. And that failure is what will cost the most, borne hardest by the people least cushioned against it. The next one is coming. The most forward-looking moment in the conversation is also the most sober. This disease, for all its damage, is survivable for most people. The next one might not be. The open question is whether the system will have learned anything by then. Episode Timeline Timestamps were generated using AI for readability. 00:00 Welcome and Dr. GPCR Summit 2020 announcement 01:49 Check-in with Dr. Hebert — shutdown, reopening plans, and Montreal as epicenter 03:06 Paper acceptances, thesis writing, and 30 hours of Zoom teaching in one month 04:29 The beta-1 adrenergic BRET paper and a review on transcriptional regulation as a drug target 05:22 Lab meetings, journal clubs, and the Slack/Zoom scaffolding 06:12 Student wellbeing and the puzzle of reopening a shared floor 07:16 Why challenge trials aren't ready — and the remdesivir question underneath them 08:52 When pandemic infrastructure breaks down at national scale 10:16 Lessons for the next one, and the shape of the new normal Selected Quotes "So we made a decision a month and a half ago to kind of stop going to the lab. Montreal being the epicenter of the disease in this country — we don't regret that decision now." "I don't think [challenge trials] are a good idea because we don't really have good drugs to deal with the disease when people get sick. If we have a way to control the disease and keep people from getting really sick, I think we can go to challenge trials more rapidly." "Honestly it could be worse, right? This disease, most people survive. When the next one comes, let's hope we learn something from this one." "Those are the people we have to protect, not big corporations who, you know, are probably in a sense part of the cause. Globalization is not something that is without its consequences here." About this episode Dr. Terry Hébert is a Professor within the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics at McGill University. Much of his work is based on GPCR signaling in the context to cardiovascular diseases. In this special episode of the Dr.GPCR podcast , we re-connected with Dr. Terry Hebert to chat about how he and his team has been adapting to the new reality of working remotely. Terry tells us about the importance of adapting, communicating, and being mindful of those around us. Dr. Terry Hébert on the web Terry Hébert | Institute of Health Sciences Education Hébert Lab LinkedIn Hébert Lab The GPCR Consortium PubMed Dr. GPCR Ecosystem Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

Gloriam on orphan GPCR biology, GPCRDB, biased signaling, and how the data analysis bottleneck is reshaping receptor pharmacology and drug discovery. << Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) David Gloriam: Orphan Receptors, GPCRDB, and the Data Revolution in GPCR Pharmacology GPCRs represent the largest and most pharmacologically important family of membrane receptors, yet a significant portion remain orphans - proteins whose endogenous ligands and physiological roles are still unknown. This conversation explores the intersection of computational biology, cheminformatics, and structural pharmacology through the work of David Gloriam, whose career spans the identification of 26 novel human GPCRs from genome sequence data to the development of GPCRDB, a community resource used by more than 4,400 researchers monthly. Gloriam's research addresses a central challenge in the field: how to move from a bare protein sequence to a pharmacologically characterized receptor with identified ligands, a determined structure, and a plausible role in physiology. The conversation covers the de-orphanization of GPR139 and GPR55, the unresolved promise of biased agonism as a strategy for safer drug development, and the concept of data-accelerated receptor evolution as a framework for engineering receptor-ligand interactions at the residue level. For Gloriam, this work began with a grandmother's cancer diagnosis and an early determination to develop drugs - a goal that led him through the human genome and into a decades-long pursuit of receptors whose functions remain to be written. ABOUT THE GUEST David Gloriam is a professor at the University of Copenhagen's Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, where he leads a multidisciplinary research group working across data science, computational drug design, pharmacology, and structural biology. His primary research focus is orphan GPCR biology, with particular emphasis on identifying endogenous ligands and physiological roles for receptors discovered during the human genome sequencing era. He maintains and develops GPCRDB, a continuously updated database and tool platform that integrates structural, functional, and ligand data for the entire GPCR superfamily. His group contributed to the de-orphanization of GPR139 and GPR55, including the identification of sub-nanomolar peptide ligand candidates, and has published widely on computational approaches to GPCR drug discovery and receptor classification. SCIENTIFIC THEMES OF THE CONVERSATION Orphan GPCR biology - the challenge of connecting a protein sequence to a physiological function GPCRDB as community infrastructure for integrating and accelerating GPCR research The interdisciplinary de-orphanization pipeline: from bioinformatics to pharmacology to structure The data interpretation bottleneck - how the field's rate-limiting step has fundamentally shifted Biased agonism: from theoretical framework to the challenge of pathway-specific drug design Data-accelerated receptor evolution: engineering GPCR function at the single residue level KEY INSIGHTS FROM THE CONVERSATION The Human Genome as a Discovery Platform When Gloriam joined a bioinformatics group during his master's studies, the first human genome sequence had just become available. Working within that resource, his group identified 26 previously unknown GPCRs in the span of a few years - a pace of discovery that would have been impossible through classical biochemical approaches. The experience established his conviction that computational analysis could function as a genuine primary discovery tool, not merely as support for bench science. De-Orphanization Is a Full-Discipline Effort The process of characterizing an orphan receptor from protein sequence to identified ligand to determined structure cannot be completed within a single lab or a single methodology. Gloriam described the journey of GPR139 as spanning sequence-based phylogeny, database mining for tissue expression, virtual screening, pharmacological assay development, machine learning-guided ligand identification, and finally structural collaboration with external groups. The full arc took more than a decade and required sustained coordination across disciplines that rarely share a lab bench. Taking Over GPCRDB Without a Safety Net When the original GPCRDB team approached retirement, Gloriam chose to carry the resource forward despite holding no tenure and working under a two-year contract. He described it as one of the major single decisions of his career - a bet that the community would respond and the opportunity would justify the risk. The response exceeded his expectations: within years, researchers he had never met were greeting him at conferences by name because of the database. The Bottleneck Has Flipped For most of the history of pharmacological research, generating reliable data was the rate-limiting step. Gloriam argued that this has fundamentally changed: the volume and diversity of available data now far outpaces the field's capacity to analyze and interpret it. This shift places data scientists and computational biologists in a newly central role - not as support for experimentalists, but as the primary constraint to overcome in advancing receptor biology. Biased Agonism Still Needs Its Proof of Concept A drug designed around biased agonism principles received regulatory approval, but its actual functional selectivity has since been questioned - with some researchers arguing it may be a partial agonist rather than a genuinely biased compound. Gloriam identified this ambiguity as symptomatic of a deeper challenge: the field has not yet fully characterized which signaling pathways produce therapeutic benefit and which produce side effects across the GPCR targets most relevant to disease. Until that pathway-level map is built, designing genuinely biased drugs remains a hypothesis in search of its first clean demonstration. Leadership Is a Learnable Skill - If You Seek the Training Gloriam took formal research leadership training before his group was large enough to require it - acting on advice from mentors who recognized that funding panels wanted evidence of leadership readiness alongside scientific merit. He described coaching sessions, national leadership courses, and the deliberate selection of mentors who had recently navigated the specific challenges he was facing. The result was a structured group management model built around four specialized subgroups, each with a senior researcher as daily supervisor - a design that reduced bottlenecks and allowed the science to scale beyond what one group leader could hold. Open Science as the Next Infrastructure Problem Gloriam articulated a vision for GPCRDB as more than a data repository - a shared scientific workspace where researchers could surface big unsolved problems, correspond across institutions, design experiments collectively, and deposit results in a structured format accessible to the entire community. He described the complete characterization of biased signaling pathways across all GPCRs as one such challenge: too large for any single group, and structurally dependent on coordinated community effort that currently has no home. EPISODE TIMELINE Timestamps are AI-generated estimates based on the transcript and may not align exactly with the final edited episode. Verify against the published audio before use. 00:00 Welcome and introduction of David Gloriam 02:23 Career origins - from childhood medicine ambitions to pharmaceutical sciences and bioinformatics 05:34 The human genome treasure hunt - discovering 26 new GPCRs from sequence data 11:55 Orphan GPCRs - years spent chasing receptors with no known function or ligand 13:31 De-orphanizing GPR55 and GPR139 - the full pipeline from sequence to structure 17:21 GPCRDB - origin story, the career-defining decision to take it over, and its growth 23:21 Two frontiers: residue-level receptor function and the unresolved challenge of biased agonism 30:29 Managing a multidisciplinary group of 15 - subgroups, leadership training, and delegation 40:41 What excites Gloriam today - open science models and the long-term vision for GPCRDB 50:01 Career-defining moments, work-life balance, and advice for junior scientists SELECTED QUOTES "Whereas data generation used to be the limiting factor, today it's the analysis and the interpretation and understanding of the data - because we have so much data now, and it's actually our ability to understand it." "The day I stop learning, I might as well die. For me, the actual development - that's the thing. And that's the fun part." "I walked in there and I did the best performance ever. And I walked out and I felt - I think I did it. I did it, yes." "When I come into work and I have a group member that does something better than I do - that's actually what makes me the most proud." About this episode David Gloriam is a Professor in Computational Receptor Biology at the University of Copenhagen where he leads a research cluster for GPCR function and drug discovery and a Pharmaceutical Data Science unit. His group runs the GPCRdb database where ~4,000 researchers each month retrieve reference data and access online tools for analysis, visualization, and experiment design. David obtained his Ph.D. from Uppsala University in Sweden where he worked on the bioinformatic identification of 24 novel human G protein-coupled receptors. He later identified physiological hormones of such under characterized ‘orphan’ receptors and functional probes for a range of receptors. He completed two postdocs in the UK at the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute and GlaxoSmithKline . In 2018 he joined the University of Copenhagen, where he has received an ERC Starting Grant, Lundbeck Foundation Fellowship, and Novo Nordisk Foundation Ascending Investigator awards. Dr. Gloriam is a corresponding member of the Nomenclature Committee of the International Union of Pharmacology (IUPHAR). He is one of the coordinators of recommendations to describe ligand bias towards signaling probes and safer drugs. His group recently developed an online resource of biased ligands and pathway effects to advance the biased signaling field. Join me a learn more about David’s work, his career trajectory, and GPCRdb. Dr. David E. Gloriam on the web LinkedIn ResearchGate Twitter Google Scholar Computation Receptor Biology- Gloriam Group GPCRdb Dr. GPCR Ecosystem Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

<< Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Dr. GPCR Team About Dr. Yamina Berchiche Dr. Yamina A. Berchiche is the founder of Dr. GPCR, an ecosystem designed to bring together stakeholders interested in using G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) that control virtually everything in the body as drug targets. The mission of Dr. GPCR is to accelerate GPCR drug discovery by sharing the latest research and technology advances in the field and providing exposure to scientists through the Dr. GPCR podcast. Dr. Berchiche obtained her Master’s and Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Montreal in Canada before training at Rockefeller University in New York and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. She developed expertise over the past two decades studying structure/function relationships of GPCRs using live-cell bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET). Her work focused on chemokine receptors, members of the GPCR family that control cell movement in the body. Dr. Yamina Berchiche on the web Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter ResearchGate PubMed Google Scholar Dr. GPCR About Dr. Shivani Sachdev Dr. Sachdev is an early career researcher in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. Her research centers on developing nanobody-ligand conjugates to target GPCRs, with a focus on receptors relevant for treating osteoporosis, diabetes, and pain. She received her undergraduate degree in Biotechnology from KIIT University in India. She subsequently joined Professor Mark Connor's laboratory at Macquarie University in Australia. Dr. Sachdev pursued Ph.D. in the same lab where she investigated the molecular pharmacology of cannabinoid receptors. She is also very active within the pharmacology community and currently serves on the editorial board of the British Journal of Pharmacology. Given her expertise in GPCR pharmacology and scientific communication, she is poised to make valuable contributions to the field and expand our understanding of GPCR signaling. Dr. Shivani Sachdev on the web NIDDK ReseachGate Google Scholar LinkedIn Twitter Dr. GPCR About Dr. Inês Pinheiro PharmD by training and Ph.D. candidate in Hartley's lab at the University of Geneva. As a young researcher fascinated by chemokine receptors, molecular pharmacology, drug discovery, and immuno-oncology. Dr. Inês Pinheiro on the web LinkedIn University of Geneva Twitter Dr. GPCR About Dr. Monserrat Avila Zozaya I did a PhD in cell biology at CINVESTAV, Mexico. During that time, I investigated the effect of lung cancer-related mutations in the GAIN domain of the Latrophilin 3 receptor. My long-term interest is focused on understanding the mechanisms mediated by GPCRs at the cellular communication level. Dr. Monserrat Avila Zozaya on the web LinkedIn Antony Boucard Lab Dr. GPCR About John Azietaku John Teye Azietaku,PhD is a trained pharmacist, holding a Ph.D. in Drug Discovery Biology and Pharmacology from Monash University. Currently serving as a Post Doctoral research fellow at Monash University, John plays a pivotal role in the pharmacological screening of compounds for a commercial drug discovery program. With prior industry experience as a Clinical Research Associate at IQVIA and regulatory officer at the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) in Ghana, John has a proven track record of ensuring compliance with protocols and regulatory standards. Driven by a passion for advancing drug development, John is committed to leveraging his expertise to enhance healthcare outcomes and contribute to the growth of the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. John Azietaku on the web LinkedIn Dr. GPCR About Ya-Tzu Li Ya-Tzu is a Master's student at the University of South Florida, utilizing large-scale virtual drug screening to identify agonists and antagonists targeting Class A GPCRs. Since beginning her undergraduate studies, she has used computational methods like molecular dynamics simulations and free energy landscape analysis to understand the signaling pathways and activation mechanisms of the Dopamine D3 receptor and the CXCR4-CXCL12 complex. In August, Ya-Tzu will continue her academic and research pursuits by beginning her PhD training in Medical Science at USF, aiming to further contribute to the field of medical pharmacology. Ya-Tzu Li on the web LinkedIn Dr. GPCR About Cam Sinh Lu Cam Sinh Lu is a PhD student at Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, with a deep interest in understanding drug-receptor interactions. With an immense passion for molecular pharmacology, his research focuses on elucidating the molecular basis of membrane protein signalling using quantitative assays and molecular modelling. Further down the track, he aims to apply this knowledge to develop novel chemical treatments for neuronal and cardiovascular diseases. Cam Sinh Lu on the web LinkedIn Dr. GPCR Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

How academia and biotech collaborate to scale GPCR tools—covering fluorescence assays, GPCR internalization, and real-world distribution. Episode 3 of 3. << Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) 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 Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. 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<< Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Dr. Christel Menet About Dr. Christel Menet "I did my Ph.D. in Manchester UK with Prof Jonathan Clayden in organic chemistry. I then started my career at Evotec before moving to Domain Therapeutics (called Faust pharmaceutical at the time). After 2 years, I joined Galapagos where I spent almost 11 years and became head of medicinal chemistry. 6 years ago I decided to take on a new challenge by taking the position of CSO at Confo Therapeutics . I was the 6th employee and today we are more than 60 :) I have fun every day, and I love working with GPCRs. they are such great targets." Dr. Christel Menet on the web Hyphen Projects GPCRS Drug Discovery Confo Therapeutics LinkedIn Dr. GPCR Ecosystem Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

Join us as a featured guest on the Dr. GPCR Podcast! Explore the fascinating career journeys, groundbreaking discoveries, and impactful contributions of experts in GPCR biology. Share your insights and be part of the conversation. Complete the form below to become a guest - we'll reach out within 48 hours. Don't miss this opportunity to showcase your expertise! Be Our Guest – Dr. GPCR Podcast Share Your Research. Inspire the GPCR Community. Every episode of the Dr. GPCR Podcast features leading scientists, innovators, and biotech professionals whose work is advancing the understanding of G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs). We discuss breakthrough discoveries, career paths in pharmacology and molecular biology, and how each guest’s research contributes to the global GPCR ecosystem. If you’re working on exciting GPCR-related research — from structural biology to drug discovery — we’d love to feature your story. Fill out the form below and our team will contact you within 48 hours. Fill out this form Frequently asked questions About the Dr.GPCR Podcast At the high of the pandemic, I created the Dr. GPCR Podcast with three major goals in mind: Share the latest scientific discoveries in the GPCR field through discussions with experts Provide researchers with a different outlet to make their work known and Inspire young scientists to work on GPCRs It’s been a privilege to chat with so many GPCR scientists since 2020. Dr. GPCR’s mission is to bring together the GPCR community from all corners of the world to connect, exchange, and collaborate to improve human health through a better understanding of GPCR biology. So far we have recorded and released over 156 episodes and hosted GPCR specialists from all over the world, includingDr. Bryan Roth, Dr. Robert Lefkowitz, Dr. Fiona Marshall, Dr. Sam Hoare, Dr. Graciela Pineyro, Dr. Debbie Hay, Dr. Randy Hall, tributes toDr. Marc Caronwith over 30 guests includingDr. Kathleen Caron, Dr. Brian Kobilka, and many other amazing scientists. What is the format of the Dr.GPCR Podcast? How long will the podcast recording take? How do I book the meeting on Calendly? Can I reschedule or cancel our meeting? What should I expect during the recording process? How should I prepare for the podcast recording? Do I need to bring any equipment for the recording? How do I join the recording session? Are there any features you’d recommend to use? Can I promote my work or projects during the podcast? Will there be an opportunity for me to ask questions or clarify any points? How will the podcast episode be promoted? When can I expect my podcast episode to be released? Can I listen to the episode after it’s been recorded? Can I watch the video podcast after it’s been published? How can I stay updated on future episodes or collaborate again in the future? I am still an undergraduate, Ph.D. student, or a post-doc, am I welcome to join as a guest? Do you have any suggestions in terms of podcast equipment? Any tips on achieving good lighting for the video podcast recording? Listen and subscribe where you get your podcasts

<< Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Dr. Yamina Berchiche About this episode In this Episode 0 of the brand new Dr. GPCR podcast , your host and founder, Dr. Yamina Berchiche introduces the very first podcast dedicated to GPCRs researcher and their work. This podcast is part of the Dr. GPCR Ecosystem, with the goal is to bring together GPCR scientists, biotech, and pharma leaders as well as suppliers working on GPCRs by providing opportunities to connect, share, form trusting partnerships, grow, and thrive together to accelerate GPCR drug discovery and improve human health. Dr. Yamina Berchiche on the web - Website - LinkedIn - PubMed - Twitter - Facebook - Dr. GPCR Ecosystem Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

Jacob Lee and Jin Cho, co-founders of GeneMode, on the ten billion dollars American labs waste every year — and why rebuilding research software from scratch is the most direct path to faster cures. << Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Jacob Lee and Jin Cho: Rebuilding the Software Layer Under Modern Research Most scientific research still runs on infrastructure built for a different century. Spreadsheets lock when two people open them. Freezer inventories live in a senior postdoc's head. An estimated ten billion dollars is spent every year in the United States rebuying reagents already sitting on a shelf nobody could find. In this conversation, Jacob Lee and Jin Cho — co-founders of GeneMode — describe what they saw when they looked at that infrastructure as outsiders and as scientists at once. Lee is a bioengineer whose first year of graduate school was defined by scheduling thirty-minute appointments on a senior postdoc's calendar just to access the lab's inventory software, and that experience is what turned frustration into a company. Cho came from engineering software for military drones at General Atomics, and was stunned when he saw what his friend's lab was paying for a tool that looked straight out of Windows XP. They talk about the slow architecture of drug discovery, the compounding cost of irreproducibility, and why rebuilding the tools scientists use every day is, for them, the most direct path to getting cures to patients faster. About the Guests Jacob Lee is the CEO and co-founder of GeneMode. He trained as a bioengineer and worked as a research scientist in stem cell and cancer labs before founding the company. His frustrations as a first-year graduate student navigating inaccessible lab software became the seed for GeneMode. He leads the company's product vision, focused on inventory, experiment management, and research reproducibility. Jin Cho is the CTO and co-founder of GeneMode. Trained in electrical and computer engineering, he began his career at General Atomics building software for military drones before reuniting with his high-school friend Lee to rebuild research tools from the ground up. At GeneMode he leads the engineering team and the platform's weekly release cycle. Scientific Themes of the Conversation The cost of irreproducibility — waste, delay, and the compounding friction of bad tools Access asymmetry in research — who gets to use the lab's software, and who waits Research software as infrastructure — why tools built for scientists behave differently than tools adapted to them The drug discovery timeline — preclinical, clinical, and regulatory phases, and where software actually matters Collaboration in shared labs — real-time editing, shared freezers, and the Excel-lock problem Lab automation and the hidden operating cost of being a scientist Key Insights from the Conversation Ten billion dollars vanishes every year into duplicate reagent orders. Lee describes an estimate that American labs spend roughly ten billion dollars annually on reagents they already own but can't locate. The cost isn't just money — it's the erosion of reproducibility that follows from not knowing what's in the freezer. Access to the lab's tools is often rationed by seniority. In Lee's first graduate lab, only the principal investigator and a senior postdoc had logins for the expensive inventory software. As a student, he scheduled thirty-minute appointments on a postdoc's calendar to learn how to use a tool the lab had already paid thousands of dollars for. Excel is the default research tool because no one built a better one for scientists. The co-founders argue that most lab software wasn't built for scientists — it was built for general business use and retrofitted. That explains the locked files, the manual re-entry, the outdated look, and the poor fit with how research actually moves. Lab infrastructure is the hidden variable in drug discovery timelines. COVID-era conversations about why vaccines take eighteen months tend to focus on the clinical and regulatory phases. Lee reframes the question toward the preclinical phase, where data management and reproducibility quietly compound every delay downstream. Private and shared workspaces both matter, even in collaborative labs. Cho and Lee describe designing for the reality of shared benchwork: most labs want everything visible to everyone, but individual scientists still need space for protocols-in-progress or personal collections they're not ready to publish internally. Fast release cycles are a signal of infrastructure maturity. Cho describes shipping updates weekly, prioritizing customer-reported bugs and feature requests with a design-to-test-to-ship loop that most scientific software vendors don't attempt. That cadence is itself a philosophical statement about who the tool serves. A ninth-grade English class is an unlikely origin for scientific infrastructure. The GeneMode story starts with two teenagers in the same high-school classroom, different majors, different career paths, and a late-night message asking whether lab software could be hacked together in a weekend. The answer turned out to be no — but the question turned into a company. Episode Timeline Timestamps were generated using AI for readability. 00:00 Summit week welcome and episode introduction 01:34 Meeting the co-founders — CEO Lee and CTO Cho 03:11 From stem cell research to bioengineering frustration 04:03 The ninth-grade English class where the story starts 04:59 Seeing Windows XP-era software inside a modern lab 07:01 What GeneMode actually does that Excel can't 10:15 Onboarding a ten-person lab onto one shared platform 12:18 Ten billion dollars in wasted reagents 16:13 What's coming next — tools across the experimental lifecycle 18:32 Algorithms that predict when reagents will run out 22:43 A weekly release cycle built around user feedback 24:13 Why vaccines still take eighteen months Selected Quotes "A lot of the problems that we're solving is around data sharing for scientists — by having inventory, experiment management, applications, and data all in one collaborative workspace." — Jacob Lee "It looks like software that was built a couple of decades ago. And what surprised me even more was his lab was paying thousands of dollars for this legacy-looking software. I was mind-blown." — Jin Cho "In a lab of ten people, only the principal investigator and a very senior postdoc had access to the software. And as a student, I had to actually schedule times on my postdoc's calendar in thirty-minute segments just to learn how to use that tool." — Jacob Lee "The end goal is really much bigger than helping scientists manage their research projects or inventory. Our mission is to make that research repeatable and reproducible so that we can get those cures faster." — Jacob Lee About this episode In this special episode of the Dr.GPCR podcast , I sat down with the co-founders of Genemod . Jacob Lee and Jin Choe met in ninth grade in English class and have been friends since. Although both went to the same college, Jacob and Jin choose different career paths. One day as they were catching up, Jacob shared his struggles of managing samples and an incredible amount of data and projects in the lab with Jin. Our of this need Genemod was born. Today, Genemod has built a freezer management tool and a project management tool where scientists can manage their reagents, samples, and projects on one intuitive platform. The team is planning on building even more tools that will make Genemod the go-to platform for all research scientists to make research more efficient. Genemode on the web Website Jacob Lee on LinkedIn Jacob Lee on Dr. GPCR Ecosystem Jin Choe on LinkedIn Jin Choe on Dr. GPCR Ecosystem Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

<< Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Dr. Arthur Christopoulos About Dr. Arthur Christopoulos " Arthur Christopoulos is the Professor of Analytical Pharmacology and the Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Australia. His research focuses on novel paradigms of drug action at GPCRs, particularly allosteric modulation and biased agonism, and incorporates computational and mathematical modelling, structural and chemical biology, molecular and cellular pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, and preclinical models of behaviour and disease. His work has been applied to studies encompassing neurological and psychiatric disorders, cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, chronic pain and addiction. He has received substantial, long-term support from international and national competitive, charitable and commercial sources, as well as being academic co-founder of three GPCR-focussed biotechnology companies. Professor Christopoulos has over 360 publications, including in leading international journals such as Nature,Science and Cell, and has delivered over 180 invited presentations. He has served on the Editorial Board of 8 international journals and was a Councillor of the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR). He has also been the recipient of multiple awards, including the John J. Abel Award and the Goodman and Gilman Award from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics; the Rand Medal from the Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists; the British Pharmacological Society’s Gaddum Memorial Award; the IUPHAR Sir James Black Analytical Pharmacology Lecturer; the GSK Award for Research Excellence and a Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) from the University of Athens. Since 2014, Clarivate Analytics have annually named him a Highly Cited Researcher in ‘Pharmacology & Toxicology’, and in 2021 also named him a Highly Cited Researcher in the additional category of ‘Biology & Biochemistry’. In 2017, he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, in 2018 as a Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society, and in 2021 he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science for his seminal contributions to drug discovery. In 2023, he was elected a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. " Dr. Arthur Christopoulos on the web Monash University Wikipedia Google Scholar LinkedIn Dr. GPCR AI Summary AI-generated content may be inaccurate or misleading. Always check for accuracy. Quick recap Yamina and Arthur from Monash University discussed Arthur's career journey, the importance of hard work, failure, and differentiation in academic and personal lives, and the value of international conferences. They also explored the significance of translating fundamental discoveries into clinical applications, the potential of new drugs, and the unique challenges within universities. Additionally, they discussed the importance of hiring based on differentiation, impact, and interest, the need for workforce development, and the potential of involving junior scientists and postdocs in their podcast. Lastly, they touched upon the global challenges of healthcare workforce growth, climate change, and emerging psychiatric disorders, as well as the importance of recording lectures and making pre-lesson materials available to students. Next steps - Yamina will share notes about PRISM and presentability with Arthur. - Arthur will share the story of PRISM's development and its impact on the field with Yamina. - Yamina will send an invite for a follow-up meeting with Arthur next Saturday at 9 PM. - Arthur and Yamina will prepare for the next meeting, focusing on the concept of biased agonism and discussing Dr. GPCR and the charity status. - Yamina will attempt to book Denise for a future podcast episode. Summary Arthur's Career Journey and Transition to Dean Yamina introduced Arthur to her team and discussed the use of a particular tool for meeting summaries. Arthur shared his career journey from pharmacy to becoming a professor, highlighting the influence of his mentors and the importance of his postdoctoral experience. They discussed the value of hard work, failure, and the significance of differentiation in their personal and academic lives. Towards the end, they focused on Arthur's transition to become Dean and his decision to move from Australia to the United States for a postdoctoral position. Postdoctoral Position, Scientific Dynamics, and New Drug Targets Arthur shared his decision to undertake a postdoctoral position with Nigel Bird's lab in the UK and his experiences of meeting influential figures during his time in the US. He and Yamina discussed the importance of preserving original work, the value of international conferences, and the dynamics between junior and senior scientists in a research environment. They also shared their admiration for the work of a mutual friend and discussed the history of muscarinic receptors, specifically focusing on the role of a compound that Arthur received from Fred. Lastly, they discussed the progress of new drugs targeting specific receptors for various diseases, with Arthur sharing insights on Eli Lilly's compound, Xanomeline, and the potential of M4 PAM for psychosis. Collaborative Research and Translational Approach Arthur and Yamina from Monash University discussed their collaborative approach to scientific research, emphasizing the benefits of combining their complementary skills and interests. They shared their unconventional approaches to research, including the creation of a critical mass of GPCR researchers in Australia and the initiation of a successful series of conferences. They also discussed the relocation of some university labs to facilitate collaboration and overcome the siloed department structure. Additionally, they explored the unique culture and structure of their Institute, highlighting its translational approach to research and its capacity to translate research into therapeutic commercialization. Lastly, Arthur shared three significant moments that shaped his career, including the evolution and impact of analytical pharmacology, particularly highlighting the role of Prism, a data analysis tool. Podcast Format, Team Culture, and Science Yamina and Arthur concluded their discussion and decided to take a short break. They talked about the format and length of their podcast, their professional interests, and their recent successful bid to bring Moderna to their university. They also explored the idea of starting a similar talk show format to 'Between Two Ferns', the importance of maintaining team culture, and the potential health issues among well-known scientists. Lastly, they discussed the growth and development of the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the importance of knowing when to let go in scientific experiments, and the idea of a panel for building and incubating companies. Arthur's Pandemic Journey and Global Challenges Yamina and Arthur discussed Arthur's experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic, his journey as a research fellow in Australia, and his transition to the role of Dean. Arthur shared his insights into the unique grant funding system in Australia, the importance of impact in research, and the challenges of balancing administrative responsibilities with scientific pursuits. He also reflected on his personal health struggles, the growth of his university, and the faculty's successful response to the Covid crisis. The conversation also touched upon Arthur's career decisions, his scientific achievements, and the importance of learning from mistakes and self-confidence. Lastly, they discussed the global challenges of healthcare workforce growth, climate change, and emerging psychiatric disorders, as well as the importance of recording lectures and having pre-lesson materials available to students. Translating Discovery Into Clinical Application Arthur and Yamina discussed the importance of translating fundamental discoveries into clinical applications in their research, highlighting the unique opportunities presented by their location and partnerships with other institutions. They stressed the necessity of making their research goals clearer, avoiding replication, and adopting a more assertive approach in grant applications. They also emphasized the significance of fundamental discoveries, the role of biotech, and the need for efficiency and process development in university systems. The conversation highlighted ongoing challenges within universities, including resistance to change and the need to communicate expectations and protect established cultures. Hiring Process, Collaboration, and Education-Focused Initiatives Arthur emphasized the importance of differentiation, impact, and interest in their hiring process and fostering a culture of collaboration. He shared his vision of breaking down barriers and promoting education-focused initiatives, encouraging his team to be innovative and apply their skills to education. Yamina expressed a desire to learn from successful leaders and the importance of recognizing talent and matching it with the needs of a particular project. They also discussed the disruption within the pharmaceutical sector, the importance of workforce development, and the need for maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Lastly, they deliberated on involving junior scientists and postdocs in their podcast and the possibility of writing a book about their experiences in academia. Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

Annette Gilchrist on why native cell systems change GPCR screening, constitutive beta-arrestin activity at FFA2, and the pharmacogenomics gap in drug discovery. << Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Annette Gilchrist: Native Cell Systems, Biased Agonism, and the Pharmacogenomics Gap Biased agonism promised a cleaner path to better drugs - compounds that activate the beneficial arm of a receptor while leaving the harmful one alone. In practice, the picture is far more complicated. Whether a 20% reduction in beta-arrestin coupling matters therapeutically depends on the cell type, the complement of intracellular effectors present, and the receptor's own baseline activity in that tissue. These are questions you cannot answer in a HEK cell overexpressing a receptor it was never meant to see. Annette Gilchrist has built her research program around that premise. Working on chemokine receptor CCR1 in multiple myeloma, free fatty acid receptor FFA2 in type 2 diabetes, and muscarinic receptors, her lab screens in disease-relevant cell lines and looks early for signaling bias - not as a theoretical exercise, but as a practical filter on what a compound might actually do in a patient. That discipline led to a finding her field had not documented before: constitutive beta-arrestin activity at a wild-type FFA2 receptor, suppressible by an inverse agonist that then redirects signaling toward GQ coupling. For Gilchrist, the result was not a surprise so much as a confirmation - if you look in the right system, receptors show you things overexpression models never could. ABOUT THE GUEST Annette Gilchrist is Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Midwestern University, where her research focuses on GPCR signaling in disease-relevant contexts. Her lab studies chemokine receptor CCR1 in multiple myeloma and cancer-to-bone metastasis, free fatty acid receptor FFA2 in type 2 diabetes, and muscarinic M2 and M3 receptors, consistently prioritizing native and disease-proximal cell systems for screening. Before returning to academia, she co-founded two GPCR-focused biotechs with Heidi Hamm - CUE Biotech and Caden Biosciences - developing G-protein C-terminal mini-gene peptide tools that became widely adopted across the field. She also brings early industry experience from Pfizer, where her first sustained encounter with pharmacology as a discipline shaped how she has thought about the relationship between target validation and drug development ever since. SCIENTIFIC THEMES OF THE CONVERSATION The native cell argument - why overexpression models produce systematically misleading screening data and what disease-relevant cell lines reveal instead The practical limits of biased agonism - cell-type context, effector availability, and why the G-protein vs. beta-arrestin framing rarely holds at the clinical level Constitutive beta-arrestin activity and inverse agonism - a first-in-kind finding at wild-type FFA2 and its implications for biased ligand campaign design GPCR pharmacogenomics - natural receptor variation, interpatient drug response differences, and a largely unexplored opportunity in existing drug pipelines Antibody therapeutics for GPCRs - the pipeline case, the approval rate argument, and why orphan receptor targeting may not require knowing the endogenous ligand Receptor dimerization - BRET biosensors, what we still do not know about physiological relevance, and why the tools are finally beginning to close the gap KEY INSIGHTS FROM THE CONVERSATION The cell you screen in determines the biology you can find Running a GPCR screen in a HEK cell overexpression model removes the intracellular proteins a receptor actually encounters in disease tissue - effectors like Go or Gz that are critical in neuronal signaling, for example, and simply absent in standard lines. Gilchrist has argued for disease-relevant cell systems for over 15 years, and her lab's discovery of constitutive beta-arrestin activity at FFA2 is a direct product of that discipline - a result that would have been invisible in a standard overexpression model. Biased agonism is context-dependent, not receptor-intrinsic The field has treated biased agonism largely as a property of a compound and a receptor. Gilchrist's argument is that it is also a property of the cell. The same compound may produce a functionally meaningful shift in one cell type and a negligible one in another, depending on the G-protein isoforms present, the receptor conformation in that membrane environment, and what other proteins are competing for the same intracellular space. How much bias is enough is not a pharmacological question with a single answer. An inverse agonist where none had been reported - constitutive beta-arrestin coupling at FFA2 Gilchrist's lab entered the FFA2 project looking for GQ-biased agonists to drive insulin release. What they found instead was that FFA2 appears to be constitutively coupled to beta-arrestin in the relevant cell system - and that an inverse agonist against that constitutive activity effectively redirects the receptor toward GQ coupling. It was a result that had been documented in a mutant vasopressin receptor but never in a normal wild-type receptor. The aha moment was not the result itself but recognizing what it meant for how you could design the campaign. Pharmacogenomic variation in GPCRs may already be shaping clinical drug response - unacknowledged A paper by Hauser mapped pharmacogenomic variation across the GPCR-ome and showed, among other findings, that many of the GPCRs carrying the highest mutation loads are hormone receptors - FSH, LH, and others implicated in fertility. Patients taking drugs that target GPCRs with natural population-level variants are almost certainly responding differently based on their receptor genetics. Almost no company with an approved GPCR-targeting drug has gone back to look at what common receptor variants do to their compound. Gilchrist believes they should. The mini-gene origin: reading one paper, seeing the missing experiment While a postdoc in Heidi Hamm's lab, Gilchrist read a paper describing how BARK C-terminal peptides had been inserted into a plasmid as tools. The question that followed was immediate: why hadn't anyone done the same with G-protein C-termini? The peptides she developed - 11 amino acids rather than 55, which created their own detection challenges - became widely used across the field for measuring receptor-G-protein interactions and screening for allosteric modulators. The insight was not a long deliberation. It was a single reading of someone else's work and a recognition that an obvious experiment had not yet been done. Antibody therapeutics for GPCRs: the pipeline argument Biologics have a substantially higher success rate than small molecules moving through the drug development pipeline. GPCRs are well-validated targets with known physiological relevance. The combination of those two facts, Gilchrist argues, makes antibody-based GPCR therapeutics an underexplored area - particularly for orphan GPCRs, where compounds are already being developed against receptors whose endogenous ligands remain unknown. The precedent of drugging a receptor without knowing what activates it naturally, and getting therapeutic results, suggests the field does not always need the full biology before it can act on the pharmacology. The first screen: looking for antagonists, finding agonists instead The principle that Gilchrist now teaches - follow the unexpected result, ask why it happened, do not repeat it away - came from her own first encounter with exactly that situation. Running a small-molecule screen in Heidi Hamm's lab, looking for compounds that would block G-protein binding, she found agonists: compounds that made the G-protein bind better, some of which trapped the receptor in a state where it could not signal further. It was not the experiment she had designed. The years of research that followed came directly from not dismissing it. EPISODE TIMELINE Timestamps are AI-generated from the transcript and may not reflect the final edited episode. 00:00 Introduction 02:18 Career trajectory - from medical school intent to Pfizer, PhD in immunology, and an accidental entry into GPCR biology 07:25 Entering GPCR research through Heidi Hamm's lab - and why the committee said G proteins had already won their Nobel Prize 12:39 Co-founding CUE Biotech and Caden Biosciences - allosteric modulator screens and G-protein C-terminal peptide tools 17:17 Current receptors: CCR1, FFA2, and muscarinic M2 and M3 19:28 CCR1 in multiple myeloma - osteoclast/osteoblast imbalance and the cancer-to-bone metastasis problem 23:01 Why native cell lines change what a screen can detect 27:53 The limits of biased agonism - effector context, cell-type dependence, and allosteric complexity 32:08 GPCR pharmacogenomics - variant receptors, the Hauser paper, and what industry has not yet done with existing drugs 39:43 BRET biosensors, receptor dimerization, and what remains unresolved about physiological relevance 42:00 Antibody therapeutics for GPCRs and the case for orphan receptor targeting 48:27 Two aha moments: the G-protein mini-gene origin and finding an inverse agonist where none had been reported SELECTED QUOTES "Being a scientist is like being an artist. You do it because you can't imagine your life doing anything else. I do science because I love science. I love asking a question - I get to find an answer that nobody else knows, potentially." "I had no idea that I would find agonists, biased agonists, as well as antagonists the first time I did my screen. When you have a finding that is completely unexpected, you follow it. You ask the question: why did that happen? Instead of just trying it again." "How much is enough in terms of turning it down? Is a 20% reduction of beta-arrestin signaling enough? I think it is probably cell-dependent. So much of the interaction depends on the conformation of the receptor in that particular cell." "As much as it's been wonderful to get crystal structures and use molecular dynamics, there are still so many questions that we have no idea what the answer is. I guess that's one of the best things about GPCRs - there's always something to look at." About this episode Originally, Annette wanted to be a medical doctor but as luck has it, she didn’t get into medical school when she first applied. Instead, she discovered research and started her Ph.D. the day she should have started medical school. Dr. Gilchrist completed her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences / Immunology at the University of Connecticut and went on to become a postdoctoral fellow at UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago). Annette worked in industry, academia and her entrepreneurial side led her to three companies, Cue Biotech , Caden Biosciences , and MyGenomeRx in addition to being a consultant for over a decade. Dr. Gilchrist is also an associate professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Join me and learn more about Annette’s career, our common love for chemokines, and how you can use your training as a scientist in so many different ways. Dr. Annette Gilchrist on the web LinkedIn Midwestern University Google Scholar Pubmed Twitter Research Gate Dr. GPCR Ecosystem Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

<< Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Yao Lu (Jackie) About Yao Lu (Jackie) "Jackie is a Ph.D. student, at Monash University, Australia, investigating the role of functional selectivity in a novel class of potential antipsychotics for the treatment of schizophrenia. Her work involves the pharmacological and structural characterisation of novel putative antipsychotic small molecules. Her research aims to provide a molecular explanation of small molecules for their pre-clinical efficacy and to support the design of novel therapeutics. " Yao Lu (Jackie) on the web Monash University Georgina Sweet Fellowship Authorea Dr. GPCR Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

<< Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Dr. Davide Calebiro About Dr. Davide Calebiro "Davide Calebiro is Chair of Molecular Endocrinology and Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research (IMSR) of the University of Birmingham and Co-Director of the Centre of Membrane Proteins and Receptors (COMPARE) of the Universities of Birmingham and Nottingham. He studied Medicine in Milan and Stockholm, and obtained a PhD in Molecular Medicine and a Clinical Specialisation in Endocrinology and Metabolic Disease from the University of Milan. Between 2009 and 2017, he was a Group Leader at the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Rudolf Virchow Center of the University of Würzburg, Germany. He leads a multidisciplinary research team comprising biologists, chemists, physicists, engineers and computer scientists focusing on the basic mechanisms of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signalling and their alterations in endocrine, metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. To study GPCR signalling, they develop and use innovative optical methods based on FRET and single-molecule microscopy, which allow them to directly observe signalling events in living cells and tissues with unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution. His major scientific contributions include the discovery that GPCRs are not only active at the plasma membrane but also at intracellular sites and that these receptors interact among themselves and with other membrane proteins to form dynamic nanodomains at the plasma membrane. Davide’s work has been published in prestigious scientific journals such as Nature, Cell, New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation, PLoS Biology, PNAS, Nature Communications and Science Advances, attracting several prizes and awards. He has served on multiple panels and committees, including the ENDO Annual Meeting Steering Committee and the MRC Molecular & Cellular Medicine Board." Dr. Davide Calebiro on the web University of Birmingham Twitter Google Scholar LinkedIn Dr. GPCR Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

<< Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Dr. Nicola J. Smith About Dr. Nicola J. Smith Dr. Nicola J Smith is an expert in molecular pharmacology with a track record in exploring GPCR structure-function relationships in the context of cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders. She is a National Heart Foundation of Australia Future Leader Fellow and runs a laboratory of 7 Ph.D. and Honours students at UNSW Sydney, where she has recently been promoted to Associate Professor. Most recently, Dr. Smith’s team has made advances in the understanding of how an orphan GPCR exerts its effects both in vitro (cell culture and ex vivo models) and in vivo (measures of physiological and pathological cardiometabolic function in unconscious and conscious mice). Together with Irina Kufareva , UCSD, her team developed a novel approach to identifying ligands for orphan GPCRs by developing a powerful new computational tool for identifying ‘surrogate’ ligands (borrowed from other receptors) for orphan GPCRs, named GPCR-CoINPocket. Her career goal is to leverage this expertise to establish a research program that takes orphan GPCRs from ‘locked’, inaccessible receptors to well-characterized and understood ‘unlocked’ therapeutic targets with high-affinity ligands. Dr. Nicola J. Smith on the web UNSW Sydney LinkedIn Retraction Watch Twitter Dr. GPCR Ecosystem Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

<< Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Dr. Nariman Balenga About Dr. Nariman Balenga "I received my Master’s degree from the University of Tehran, Iran, in 2005 by studying the suitability of nanoparticles as porters of DNA vaccination against allergens in mice. Then I pursued my education in the lab of Dr. Maria Waldhoer at the Medical University of Graz, Austria, and received my Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine in 2010 after studying the orphan atypical cannabinoid receptor, GPR55 and its crosstalk with CB1R and CB2R in endothelial cells and neutrophils. I followed my interest in allergy and GPCRs by joining the lab of Dr. Kirk Druey at NIAID/NIH, where I characterized the role of RGS4 and RGS5 in airway hyperresponsiveness and lung fibrosis in acute and chronic mouse models of allergic asthma. I was fascinated by the multitude of processes that are regulated/dysregulated by GPCRs and RGS proteins in the lungs of patients with asthma. At the height of curiosity, a seemingly naïve idea at the dinner table led to a side project by which I characterized the impact of a fungal allergenic source on the function of airway smooth muscle cells. A fungal serine protease allergen with GPCR-modulating features was discovered as a new biomarker and target in patients with severe asthma. In 2015 I joined the University of Maryland School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor. I studied the function of RGS5, calcium-sensing receptor, and an orphan adhesion GPCR, GPR64/ADGRG2 in parathyroid glands of patients with hyperparathyroidism and their impact on body calcium homeostasis and bone resorption in relevant transgenic mice. In 2021, I joined the Ferring Research Institute of Ferring Pharmaceuticals in San Diego as a scientist." Dr. Nariman Balenga on the web Researchgate Linkedin.com Google Scholar Dr. GPCR Ecosystem Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

Chemical biologist Johannes Broichhagen reveals how fluorescent probes transform GPCR imaging, internalization studies, and assay development in live cells and tissues. << Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Chemical Probes for GPCR Imaging and Internalization with Dr. Johannes Broichhagen In this episode of The Dr. GPCR Podcast, chemical biologist Dr. Johannes Broichhagen shares how his lab builds next-generation fluorescent probes to visualize GPCRs with precision. From the early days of ion channel chemistry to pioneering peptide–fluorophore conjugates for the GLP-1 receptor, JB breaks down the strategic decisions that shaped these tools—and why reliable chemical probes are transforming GPCR drug discovery . He explains what chemical design can solve that antibodies can’t, how to validate functional assay systems, and why fluorescence-based assays paired with careful synthetic planning open doors for both high-resolution imaging and high-throughput screening . You will walk away with a deeper understanding of GPCR internalization, probe specificity, and the cross-disciplinary habits that make collaborations actually work. Why this matters How a chemist with zero biology training became a leader in GPCR probe design. Why peptide-based fluorescent ligands succeeded where antibodies repeatedly failed. What actually happened the moment JB and collaborators imaged an entire pancreatic islet in one shot. How parallel synthesis and side-by-side functional assays accelerate probe optimization and reduce false leads. Why targeting the pharmacologically relevant surface-exposed receptor pool changes the way scientists interpret GPCR trafficking. The moment when super-resolution imaging revealed nanoscale receptor domains that conventional tools completely missed. Who should listen If you’ve ever: Navigated a project where the biology refused to match the textbook mechanism. Balanced creativity in tool development with the pressure for reproducible, publication-grade data. Tried to build assays that behave in living cells—not just on paper. Collaborated across chemistry and biology and felt the translation gap firsthand… …this episode will resonate. About Johannes Broichhagen Dr. Johannes Broichhagen is a chemical biologist whose work sits at the intersection of organic synthesis, peptide chemistry, and advanced imaging. Born in 1984, he studied chemistry at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (2004–2010) and completed his doctorate at LMU Munich in 2014 . His postdoctoral training included research at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (2015–2016) and later at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, where he served as both postdoc and departmental group leader (2017–2020). These years shaped his interest in ion channels, GPCR pharmacology, and the chemical strategies needed to probe complex biology. Since 2020, JB has led his research group at the Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) in Berlin, focusing on developing fluorescent chemical tools to visualize GPCRs and other cell-surface proteins with high specificity. His lab integrates synthetic chemistry, theoretical chemistry, cell biology, and imaging to understand receptor organization and dynamics across cells, tissues, and intact organisms. Curiosity, collaboration, and a love of translating chemical concepts into biological insight drive his scientific mission. Johannes Broichhagen on the Web LinkedIn Google Scholar Lab Website Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP) Profile Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

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<< Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Dr. Lukas Grätz About Dr. Lukas Grätz "After a BSc in biology and a MSc in bioinformatics, I have been working in David Gloriam's group as a bioinformatician. My initial focus was on creating an automated chimeric homology modeling pipeline for GPCRs and since have branched out to multiple areas of GPCR research such as sequence alignments, generic numbering systems, structure data, G protein and arrestin coupling and more. As a developer, and more recently the lead developer of GPCRdb my day-to-day work centers around the maintenance and resource/tool development of GPCRdb and its sister databases. I am also affiliated with György Keserű's group at the RCNS in Hungary. I lived in Denmark, Poland, now I live in Hungary. I am married, I have two daughters. In my free time I like to play the guitar, sing and play board games. " Dr. Lukas Grätz on the web Karolinska Institutet ResearchGate PubMed Dr. GPCR Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

Nobel laureate Robert Lefkowitz traces the accidental origins of his receptor research — from a Vietnam War draft to the cloning of the beta-2 adrenergic receptor — and reflects on what it takes to choose the right scientific problem and survive 50 years of failure. << Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Robert J. Lefkowitz: Beta-Adrenergic Receptors, the GPCR Family, and Fifty Years of Discovery The existence of hormone receptors as discrete molecular entities was, for much of the 20th century, an open question. When Robert Lefkowitz arrived at the NIH in 1968 — not by scientific calling but by a Vietnam War draft assignment — the prevailing view held that receptors were at best allosteric binding sites on adenylyl cyclase. There was no proof they were physically distinct molecules. Over the following decades, Lefkowitz and his collaborators transformed this conceptual uncertainty into molecular fact. Using radioligand binding assays developed for the beta-adrenergic receptor system, his lab purified, then cloned the beta-2 adrenergic receptor — a 1986 Nature paper that unexpectedly revealed structural homology with rhodopsin and established the GPCR superfamily. The same system yielded the discovery of beta-adrenergic receptor kinase (now GRK2) and the beta-arrestins — three of the four central molecular components of GPCR signaling. This conversation traces the scientific logic and human contingency behind those discoveries: how to choose a problem at the edge of tractability, what failure looks like at 98%, and why Lefkowitz considers sharing a Nobel Prize with his own trainee the most personally meaningful moment of a fifty-year career. ABOUT THE GUEST Dr. Robert J. Lefkowitz is James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Duke University, where he has led his laboratory since 1973. His research established the beta-2 adrenergic receptor as the primary model system for understanding GPCR structure, regulation, and signaling — work that produced the first purification, cloning, and sequencing of a GPCR and led directly to the recognition of the receptor superfamily. His lab developed the GRK (G protein-coupled receptor kinase) family and discovered the beta-arrestins, proteins now understood as central mediators of receptor desensitization and G protein-independent signaling. In 2012, Dr. Lefkowitz was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with Brian Kobilka, for studies of G protein-coupled receptors. SCIENTIFIC THEMES OF THE CONVERSATION The receptor hypothesis before proof — The conceptual and experimental gap between classical pharmacology's functional receptor concept and the physical demonstration that receptors are discrete molecular entities. Beta-adrenergic receptors as a model system — Why the adrenergic system, with its rich pharmacological toolkit and cardiovascular relevance, made it the right platform for receptor biochemistry. Radioligand binding and the first demonstration of GPCR structure — The methodological progression from iodinated hormone binding to radioligand development to purification, and what each step required. The cloning race and the serendipity of the intronless gene — Competing against Genentech's molecular biology infrastructure, screening a genomic library against expert advice, and the unexpected absence of introns that closed the race. High output vs. low output failure: choosing the right scientific problem — The framework Lefkowitz articulates for navigating between trivial, solvable problems and important, intractable ones — and how that judgment is transmitted through mentorship. Scientific lineages and the transmission of scientific taste — How the values that make a scientist effective — problem selection, tolerance for failure, the instinct to pursue surprising results — are absorbed through proximity rather than instruction. KEY INSIGHTS FROM THE CONVERSATION 1. Receptors were an unproven concept when Lefkowitz chose to study them When Dr. Lefkowitz committed to receptor research in the early 1970s, prominent pharmacologists, including Raymond Ahlquist — who had introduced the alpha/beta receptor classification — publicly disputed the physical existence of receptors. At a 1973 symposium, Ahlquist responded to Lefkowitz's research plans by stating in print that hormone receptors were "a figment of Dr. Lefkowitz's imagination." Choosing that problem required betting a career on a concept that the field's own architects considered speculative. 2. The strategic logic behind choosing beta-adrenergic receptors The selection of the beta-adrenergic system was not intuitive — it was architectural. Dr. Lefkowitz identified three requirements: a receptor linked to adenylyl cyclase (providing a proximate, measurable downstream signal), cardiovascular relevance (matching his clinical training), and a pharmacological toolkit deep enough to support radioligand synthesis, analog competition studies, and affinity chromatography. The adrenergic system was the only one that satisfied all three. He reflects, fifty years later, that it was probably the smartest research decision he ever made. 3. The cloning race was won by doing the thing experts said was stupid Competing against Genentech — then the world leader in recombinant DNA technology — Dr. Lefkowitz's lab was getting nowhere screening plasmid libraries. When Brian Kobilka proposed screening a genomic library, Merck's molecular biology collaborators called it a stupid idea: introns would make a genomic clone useless. Lefkowitz and Kobilka screened it anyway. Not only did they pull clean clones immediately — they found that the beta-2 adrenergic receptor gene contains no introns, only the third mammalian gene to that point discovered to be intronless. The race ended. 4. The moment the GPCR family became visible As sequencing of the cloned beta-2 AR proceeded in 1985–86, Lefkowitz expected the receptor to look like nothing else — the first member of an unknown family. The discovery that it was structurally homologous to rhodopsin was a complete surprise. Functional analogies between the two systems had been recognized — both were G protein-coupled — but no one had predicted structural relatedness. The realization that the sequence matched a known protein was, as Dr. Lefkowitz describes it, "a total shocker." It was the moment they understood that all GPCRs would share this architecture. 5. The 98% rule and what it means to take on important problems Dr. Lefkowitz describes a senior scientist at the NIH who told him early in his career that the difference between an average scientist and a world-class one is the failure rate: 1% success versus 2%. He has carried that framing for fifty years. When a collaborator once told him that nearly everything he was working on was succeeding, Lefkowitz told him that was a problem — if 50% of your experiments work, you are not working on hard enough problems. He aims for 10–20%. 6. Mentorship is absorbed, not taught Dr. Lefkowitz argues that the most critical skill in science — choosing a problem that is important but tractable — cannot be explained by a mentor. It is acquired by watching: how a scientist moves between problems, when they persist, when they drop something, what surprises them enough to redirect attention. This is why scientific lineages exist. The values that produce important work are transmitted the way values always are — through proximity, observation, and time. 7. Sharing the Nobel with a trainee he never interviewed When Dr. Lefkowitz learned at 5 AM on October 10, 2012, that he had won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, his first reaction was not elation — it was relief. The question he had been asked for years — when are you going to win the Nobel Prize? — would never need to be asked again. His second reaction, on learning he would share the prize with Brian Kobilka, was more personal. Kobilka had applied to Duke without ever meeting him, had joined the lab without an interview, and had been the scientist at the bench for the cloning work that anchored the prize. "That brought a tear to my eye." EPISODE TIMELINE Timestamps are AI-generated from the transcript and are approximate. Exact times may vary slightly from the published recording. 00:00 Introduction 01:29 How Dr. Lefkowitz became a scientist — a story of pure accident 08:12 The Vietnam War draft, the NIH, and the two-year assignment that redirected a career 14:02 The Yellow Berets: one 100-person cohort and ten future Nobel laureates 22:30 Choosing the beta-adrenergic receptor system — the strategic logic behind fifty years of work 39:30 High output vs. low output failure: navigating between the trivial and the intractable 46:32 Mentorship as osmosis — what you absorb from watching a scientist think 53:42 Cloning the beta-2 adrenergic receptor and the unexpected homology with rhodopsin 01:05:33 The intronless gene: how a "stupid idea" ended the race against Genentech 01:08:09 On failure: why 20% success means you are not taking on hard enough problems 01:15:17 The Nobel call at 5 AM: quiet relief, a pot of coffee, and one phone call to Brian 01:35:54 Work-life balance: an honest answer SELECTED QUOTES "It was that serendipitous event of the Vietnam War and going to the NIH — not because I was dying to do research, but just because I didn't want to be dying in Vietnam. It was that serendipitous event that basically changed the entire course of my life and career." "He got up and said, it's all very nice. But he says, this is a figment of Dr. Lefkowitz's imagination. There's no such thing as a receptor. And I remember thinking to myself as a young buck at the time: I'm going to show this guy. It took a hell of a long time." "If half of everything I'm trying to do is working, I'm not taking on very challenging stuff. I really stick around 10 or 20%. What you're seeing is a trivial fraction. Most of what we do fails. But that's science." "It was more a sense of relief, I think, and quiet satisfaction. The monkey's off my back. I realized in that moment that I would never again have to answer the question: Bob, when are you going to win the Nobel Prize?" About this episode It was December 14th, 2020, 1:50 pm, when I turned on my laptop and signed into Zoom for my chat with Bob. Bob, who, you might ask? Well, it’s the one and only Robert J. Lefkowitz, M.D., 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which he shared with Dr. Brian Kobilka . Bob doesn’t really need an introduction since his reputation precedes him. Before we pressed record, I asked if I could call him Bob, and he answered that only his mom used to call him Robert, especially when she was upset with him. I then pressed record, and we chatted for almost 2h about Bob’s career, discoveries, difficulties (yes, he’s had some too), Nobel week, and his memoir that he just published in collaboration with Dr. Randy Hall. Bob is James B. Duke Professor of Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Pathology at the Duke University Medical Center. He began his career in the late 1960s and has been an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 1976. His legacy lies in the numerous discoveries he and his team made in the GPCR field and in all those who trained in his laboratory and went on to pursue stellar scientific careers. I very much enjoyed chatting with Bob, and I hope you’ll enjoy learning more about him as well. Dr. Robert J. Lefkowitz on the web A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Stockholm: The Adrenaline-Fueled Adventures of an Accidental Scientist Duke University Wikipedia Nobel Prize HHMI Lefkowitz Lab Google Scholar Pubmed Dr. GPCR Ecosystem Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

<< Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Dr. Oliver Hartley About Dr. Oliver Hartley Oliver Hartley is VP for Drug Discovery at Orion Biotechnology . He is the inventor of OB-002 as well as the key technology underlying Orion’s discovery platform. Trained as a biochemist, he completed a PhD in protein engineering (Cambridge, UK) with Sir Gregory Winter (Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 2018). Since then Oliver has worked at the University of Geneva, where his research on peptide engineering and GPCR pharmacology has led to a series of high-profile publications and new intellectual property, and at the Mintaka Foundation for Medical Research with a role as co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Oliver Hartley on the web LinkedIn Orion Biotechnology Dr. GPCR Ecosystem Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

Can models predict drug outcomes? Jens Carlsson shares how GPCR modeling is moving from explanation to real prediction in drug discovery. << Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Model. Predict. Discover. with Dr. Jens Carlsson What if models didn’t just explain the past — but could truly predict what comes next? In this episode, Dr. Jens Carlsson reveals how computational modeling is evolving from explanation to real prediction—and how that shift accelerates real-world discovery. Dr. Jens Carlsson, Professor of Computational Biochemistry at Uppsala University, joins Dr. Yamina Berchiche to share his unconventional journey from aspiring engineer to GPCR modeler. With a deep focus on structure-based drug design, Jens discusses how his lab bridges simulation and experiment—and why understanding the limits of prediction is just as critical as the predictions themselves. From virtual screening of billions of molecules to leveraging AlphaFold for structure prediction, Jens shares the cutting-edge tools his lab uses—and the collaborative mindset required to turn models into testable hypotheses. Along the way, he reflects on key career moments, the role of mentorship, and how curiosity continues to drive his work across both academic and industry settings. Why This Matters Computational models are moving beyond interpretation into real-world prediction of ligand-receptor interactions. Bridging computation, chemistry, and pharmacology is key to speeding up drug discovery. AI and machine learning are opening new doors—but only if scientists know their tools’ limits. What You’ll Learn Why Jens Carlsson believes modeling should predict , not just explain How his team uses structure-based modeling to identify novel GPCR ligands The value of failure—and how it shaped his path as a scientist Why collaborations between modelers and experimentalists are more vital than ever How AlphaFold is shaking up structural biology—and where it still falls short Advice for junior scientists: what really matters when building a research career Who Should Listen GPCR scientists and pharmacologists Computational chemists and structural biologists Early-career researchers exploring drug discovery Biotech leaders and R&D strategists Anyone interested in predictive modeling, AI in biology, or structure-function relationships About Jens Carlsson Jens Carlsson is a Professor of Computational Biochemistry at Uppsala University, where his research group uses structure-based modeling to investigate GPCRs. His team focuses on understanding how ligands modulate receptor function and how those insights can drive drug discovery. By combining molecular docking, molecular dynamics, and machine learning, Jens works at the intersection of computation and pharmacology, often in close collaboration with experimental labs. Trained initially as a biotechnology engineer, Jens discovered his true calling during an internship where his modeling skills stood out, mainly because his bench skills didn’t. That moment launched a career built around using computational tools to answer big biological questions. His journey took him from Sweden to Scripps Research and UCSF, where he was first introduced to GPCRs and mentored by pioneers like Brian Shoichet and Ken Jacobson. Jens is passionate about prediction over explanation: building models that can guide experiments, not just interpret them. Outside academia, he advises companies through a consulting arm focused on ligand design strategy. With a reputation for collaborative science, Jens is a strong advocate for bringing together chemists, modelers, and biologists to accelerate discovery and train the next generation of GPCR researchers. Jens Carlsson on the web Carlsson Group Uppsala University LinkedIn Hit play now to hear how prediction is reshaping GPCR science, and what that means for the future of drug discovery. Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

Dr. Aaron Sato on building the synthetic antibody library that finally makes GPCRs tractable — and the greenfield strategy that led him there. << Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Aaron Sato: Synthetic Antibody Libraries for the Hardest GPCR Targets GPCRs account for a substantial fraction of validated drug targets, yet most are drugged by small molecules — antibodies against GPCRs remain notoriously difficult to discover. This conversation explores how synthetic antibody phage display libraries, built on silicon-based DNA synthesis, are rewriting that constraint. Dr. Aaron Sato, CSO of Twist Biopharma, describes the motif-directed library his team developed by collecting known GPCR-binding sequences from protein, peptide, and antibody ligands and seeding them into the heavy chain CDR3 of a fully human synthetic library. The discussion covers why degenerate oligos had been the bottleneck for library quality, how a "library of libraries" strategy sidesteps the ten-billion-variant ceiling that caps any single phage library, and why the team can now move from a GPCR target to a bivalent IgG ready for functional assays in eight to ten weeks. For Aaron, this work is personal: he has built his career hunting greenfield targets where others had failed — and GPCRs were the greenfield he had been waiting for. About the Guest Dr. Aaron Sato is the Chief Scientific Officer and VP of Protein Engineering at Twist Biopharma, the biologics division of Twist Bioscience. He earned his PhD at MIT in the laboratory of Lawrence Stern, where he studied structure-function relationships of MHC class II proteins by X-ray crystallography. His career has traced the evolution of antibody engineering, with leadership roles at DIAX, Oncomed, Sutro Biopharma, and Lake Pharma before joining Twist. His current focus is building synthetic phage display libraries that drug targets the field has long treated as intractable — GPCRs chief among them. Scientific Themes of the Conversation Silicon-based DNA synthesis and the end of degenerate oligos in library design Motif-directed library design — encoding ligand-binding sequences into CDR3 architecture The library of libraries as an answer to the diversity ceiling of single phage libraries Greenfield target selection as a drug discovery strategy Family-level cross-reactivity as an advantage, not an obstacle, in GPCR antibody discovery Timelines, automation, and the industrialization of antibody workflows Key Insights from the Conversation Silicon DNA synthesis removes the degenerate oligo bottleneck. Traditional synthetic libraries rely on degenerate or trinucleotide mixtures to encode CDR diversity, which limits control over which variants actually appear. Twist's silicon platform produces pools of discrete, designed sequences — a shift in how synthetic libraries are composed. The motif-directed library encodes prior biological knowledge directly into CDR3. By curating protein, peptide, and antibody motifs known to bind GPCRs and inserting them at the top of the heavy chain CDR3, the library enters each panning campaign already biased toward the target class. The design decision is the library's main differentiator. A motif-directed library reaches targets its motifs weren't designed for. The same library has produced antibodies against orphan GPCRs and receptors without peptide ligands, because the surrounding CDR diversity provides enough variation to find binders outside the seeded motif content. Phage display's ~10¹⁰ variant ceiling can be broken by stacking libraries. Any single phage library is capped near ten billion variants. Running multiple libraries in parallel moves the effective diversity toward 10¹² — the idea Aaron calls his library of libraries. Eight to ten weeks from a GPCR target to a functional IgG is the platform's working tempo, not a best case. By skipping fragment-based screening and going directly to full bivalent IgG, the team hands functional biology teams a molecule that is ready for flow cytometry and receptor assays almost immediately. Aaron's strategy is deliberately greenfield. He looks for target classes where existing platforms have already failed — not because the biology is easier, but because new technology is rewarded most where the incumbents have stalled. GPCR family architecture is a discovery advantage. Receptors within a family share sequence and surface topography, so an antibody recovered against one member is often a legitimate starting point for discovery across the family. Episode Timeline Timestamps were generated using AI for readability. 00:00 Introduction and sponsor acknowledgment 01:53 The conversation begins 02:29 From MIT crystallography to leading Twist Biopharma 04:21 Twist Bioscience, Twist Biopharma, and the silicon DNA platform 08:12 Using DNA for long-term data storage — a parallel vertical 09:17 Why antibodies to GPCRs have stayed so intractable 09:29 The motif-directed library — encoding receptor motifs into CDR3 12:34 Why one antibody can open up a whole receptor family 14:36 Eight to ten weeks from target to tested bivalent IgG 17:21 The library of libraries — scaling past 10 billion 18:42 Who partners with Twist Biopharma today 22:45 Beyond oncology — inflammation, metabolism, cardiovascular 24:55 Running a protein engineering team through a pandemic Selected Quotes "Synthetic antibody phage display libraries are actually best used for really difficult to drug targets." "I often love to look for my greenfield areas, where there's not a lot of competition because there's just really no technology that enables you to drug specific targets." "In phage display, you're oftentimes kind of capped out around 10 billion different antibodies per library. One way around that limited diversity is to actually have multiple libraries." "GPCR antibodies are just so intractable oftentimes." About this episode In this episode of the Dr. GPCR Podcast , I spoke to Dr. Aaron Sato from Twist Biopharma , a vertical within Twist Bioscience . Aaron is currently the Chief Scientific Officer and VP of Protein Engineering. He earned his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied MHC class II structure-function relationships. His path led him to work in an industry where he assumed various responsibilities and roles in the antibody space. Aaron has a proven track record as a biologics leader as he led teams to discover and develop novel first-in-class antibody therapeutics. Dr. Sato published over 30 peer-reviewed papers and contributed to 40 issued patents in the antibody space. During our time together, Aaron and I discussed how using Twist Bioscience’s proprietary technology to manufacture DNA at a scale, the team saw an opportunity to tackle the challenge of identifying novel functional antibodies targeting GPCRs by incorporating these natural binding partners into Twist’s antibody library design. We’d like to extend a special thanks to Twist Biopharma for sponsoring this episode of the Dr. GPCR podcast. Dr. Aaron Sato on the web LinkedIn Twitter Google Scholar Twist Bioscience Twist Biopharma Dr. GPCR Ecosystem Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

<< Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Dr. Michael Feigin About Dr. Michael Feigin "Dr. Michael Feigin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and Director of Graduate Studies of Experimental Therapeutics at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, NY. He earned his Ph.D. under Dr. Craig Malbon at SUNY Stony Brook studying the role of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and their regulators in the Wnt signaling pathway. Mike then joined the lab of Dr. Senthil Muthuswamy at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and probed the roles of polarity proteins (Feigin, et al., Cancer Research, 2014) and GPCRs (Feigin, et al., PNAS, 2014) in breast cancer pathogenesis, using mouse models, three-dimensional cell culture and computational approaches to drug target discovery. When Dr. Muthuswamy moved to the University of Toronto, Mike joined the laboratory of Dr. David Tuveson at CSHL where he participated in the development of an organoid system for the culture of normal and malignant pancreatic tissue, allowing advances in sequencing, target discovery and biomarker development. He also continued his interest in computational analysis of cancer drivers by co-developing GECCO, an algorithm for the identification of noncoding mutations driving gene expression in pancreatic cancer (Feigin and Garvin, et al., Nature Genetics, 2017). Mike's lab has two main areas of interest: 1) alternative polyadenylation as a targetable driver of pancreatic cancer, and 2) dysregulation of the pancreatic tumor microenvironment by commonly prescribed anti-anxiety drugs." Dr. Michael Feigin on the web Roswell Park Feigin Lab Google Scholar LinkedIn Twitter Dr. GPCR AI Summary AI-generated content may be inaccurate or misleading. Always check for accuracy. Quick recap Yamina and Mike engaged in a conversation about their scientific research experiences. Mike shared his journey from his Ph.D. struggles to his current role as a professor, emphasizing the importance of resilience and creativity. They also discussed his research on cell polarity and its role in cancer progression, his work on G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) in breast cancer, and his interest in pancreatic cancer. The discussion also covered the challenges they face in studying GPCRs due to their low expression levels and the difficulty of localizing these receptors in tissues. Next steps • Mike will consider using Twitter to post job positions in his lab. Summary Science Roles and Resilience Yamina and Mike had a conversation about their roles and experiences in the field of science. Yamina introduced herself and Mike shared his educational background and his journey to becoming a professor. Mike also spoke about his initial struggles during his Ph.D., such as a difficult model system and a lack of experimental results. He explained that he overcame these challenges by reading extensively and contemplating alternative plans. The conversation also highlighted the importance of resilience and creativity in scientific research. Science Journey and Postdoc Decision Mike discussed his journey into science and his decision to pursue a postdoc at Cold Spring Harbor. He shared that his interest in science originated from a young age and his desire to gain more knowledge about cancer biology led him to transition into using mouse models. Yamina asked about his move from in vitro to in vivo work, and Mike explained that he wanted to use better models to understand cancer signaling pathways. They also shared their personal experiences and interest in the field of biology. Towards the end, Mike mentioned that he stayed at Cold Spring Harbor even after his mentor left for Toronto. Mike's Research on Cell Polarity and GPCRs in Cancer Mike shared his research on cell polarity and its role in cancer progression, particularly focusing on the potential of disrupted cell polarity as a driver of tumorigenesis. He also discussed his work on G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) in breast cancer, identifying GPR161 as a potential drug target due to its high expression in triple negative breast cancer. Mike then transitioned to pancreatic cancer, questioning why genes are dysregulated in cancer, which led him to explore different aspects of gene regulation and its relation to cancer progression. Yamina acknowledged the difficulty in identifying GPCRs expressed in cancer cells but not in normal ones, and commended Mike's innovative approach to the question. Career Trajectory and Faculty Position Yamina and Mike discussed Mike's career trajectory and his decision to pursue a faculty position. Mike expressed his initial reluctance due to a lack of confidence and fear of not being ready. However, he decided to undertake another postdoc to gain more experience and confidence. He also highlighted the importance of publishing strong papers and having a clear vision for his lab. Yamina emphasized the importance of thorough preparation and planning before applying for faculty positions. They also discussed the challenges of the two-body problem, where both partners need to find suitable positions. Mike shared his strategy of developing preliminary projects and gathering data to strengthen his application. Teamwork and Flexibility in Scientific Research Mike shared about his recent promotion and the way he has managed his team, encouraging them to come up with their own ideas and then guiding them. Yamina congratulated Mike on his promotion and discussed the importance of flexibility in scientific research, even when starting with a clear plan. Mike also mentioned how his team collaborates closely, with weekly roundtable discussions where everyone shares their progress and issues. The conversation ended with Yamina expressing interest in learning more about Mike's two main research areas in his lab. GPCR Targeted Drugs and Gene Regulation in Cancer Cells Mike presented research on the effect of GPCR-targeted drugs on cancer-associated fibroblasts and discussed their work on gene regulation in fibroblasts. He highlighted their interest in non-coding mutations in promoters and the 3'UTR region important for gene regulation. Mike also shared about a drug that targets an enzyme involved in mRNA cleaving, which has been found to stop cancer cells from growing and invading. He also discussed the impact of disrupting histone processing on rapidly proliferating cells, such as cancer cells, and suggested a therapeutic index for a drug called JTE-6.7. Yamina asked about the typical role of the enzyme and the challenges in delivering a molecule to target this enzyme and only cancer cells. Cytokine Inhibition, Collaboration, and Anti-Anxiety Drug Research Mike discussed the ongoing research on a drug that inhibits cytokine synthesis, its potential in killing cancer cells, and the team's efforts to understand its resistance mechanisms. He also touched upon a collaboration with Todd Ricky's group at UPenn to explore the GPCR side of the lab, which led to the discovery of potential tumor suppressors and oncogenes in melanoma. Furthermore, Mike mentioned a qualifying exam where students proposed new projects, highlighting Abby Cornwell's project on the effects of anti-anxiety drugs on pancreatic cancer patients, and the team's research on the potential issues with certain anti-anxiety drugs. The team found that these drugs could interact with GPR68, which is highly expressed in cancer-associated fibroblasts and is crucial for their function, leading to complications in cancer patients. The team is now examining other anti-anxiety drugs and common patient medications in the context of pancreatic cancer. GPCRs and Cancer Immune Modulation Yamina and Mike had a discussion about their research on GPCRs, specifically focusing on GPR68 and its role in the tumor microenvironment. They also touched upon the potential of GPCR modulation in stimulating the immune system to fight cancer. Mike shared his team's current focus on alprazolam, an anti-anxiety medication that has unexpected effects in the tumor microenvironment. They also discussed the challenges they face in studying GPCRs due to their low expression levels and the difficulty of localizing these receptors in tissues. Mike expressed a need for better tools to study GPCR localization in tissues. Scientific Journey and Drug Discovery Challenges Mike shared significant moments in his scientific journey, including the discovery of RGS proteins and its impact on his research approach. He also discussed his experiments and discoveries about GPR161 in mammary epithelial cells, the effect of alprazolam on tumors, and the potential dangers of drug interactions. Yamina proposed further exploration of dosage and length of treatment in a mouse model and suggested using a biosensor-based assay to examine dose-response curves. The conversation highlighted the complexities and challenges of drug prescription and the potential for alternative treatments. Science Journeys and Career Advice Yamina and Mike discussed their experiences in the field of science. Mike advised junior scientists to focus on projects they are passionate about, emphasizing that ownership and full investment in a project can make dealing with challenges easier. Yamina shared her personal journey, describing how she took her project in a different direction and felt a sense of ownership. Mike reflected on his early years as a postdoc, admitting that he lacked focus and didn't see the direct impact of his work on patients. He highlighted the importance of re-evaluating one's work and its potential implications. Towards the end, Yamina asked about job opportunities in Mike's lab, to which Mike responded that potential candidates can find him on Twitter. Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

<< Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Dr. Stephane Angers About Dr. Stephane Angers Dr. Angers is an expert in the field of signal transduction. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Université de Montréal in 2002 under the guidance of Dr. Michel Bouvier . His thesis work led to the development and application of light energy transfer methodology to study protein-protein interaction and signal transduction. From 2002-2006 he was a Howard Hughes Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle under Dr. Randall T. Moon , where he identified and characterized novel components of the Wnt signaling pathway and a new class of E3 ubiquitin ligases . In October 2006, Dr. Angers established his independent research program in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Faculty of Pharmacy and the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Toronto. He is the recipient of the Canada Research Chair in Functional Architecture of Signal Transduction. His research program is developed to understand the signaling mechanisms underlying the Wnt and Hedgehog families of growth factors and their signaling mechanisms in development, adult tissue homeostasis, and human diseases. His pioneer work led to the development of novel antibody molecules blocking and activating the Wnt pathway for the treatment of cancers and regenerative medicine applications. He is the scientific founder of two biotech companies, ModMab Therapeutics , and AntlerA Therapeutics , which are pursuing the clinical development of these molecules. In September 2021, Dr. Angers was named Director of the Donnelly Centre of Cellular and Biomolecular Research at the University of Toronto, an internationally recognized Research Institute bringing together multidisciplinary teams of scientists. Dr. Stephane Angers on the web Angers Lab The Donnelly Centre Twitter Dr. GPCR Ecosystem LinkedIn Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. It takes <60 seconds and makes a big difference. ★ Review on Apple Podcasts ★ Rate on Spotify ✉️ Send feedback to the team Thanks for listening to this podcast episode Follow us on your favorite Podcast Player << Previous Podcast Episode Next Podcast Episode >>

Masha Niv on bitter taste GPCRs, the drug bitterness blind spot, and what heavy water reveals about the sweet taste receptor. << Back to podcast list Strategic Partner(s) Masha Niv: Bitter Taste Receptors and the Drug Discovery Blind Spot Taste receptors are among the most overlooked GPCRs in pharmacology - and Masha Niv has spent her career building the tools to change that. This conversation explores the biology, diversity, and unexpected reach of human taste GPCRs, beginning with the 25-subtype family of bitter taste receptors and extending into sweet receptor signaling, extraoral tissue expression, and the emerging science of taste-based drug prediction. Niv describes how bitter taste receptors differ structurally from most other GPCRs - missing conserved motifs, more prone to activation, and resistant to pharmacological blockade - and why those properties have shaped both the therapeutic opportunities and the research challenges her lab works on. She traces the receptor-ligand matchmaking problem at the heart of the field: 25 subtypes, thousands of known bitter compounds, and a network of associations that a machine learning recommendation system is now beginning to map. The conversation also covers what happens when taste pharmacology intersects with drug development - a collision that, for most of pharmaceutical history, has occurred too late. Niv's early exposure to bitterness as a formulation problem rooted her work in a question that still matters every time a patient refuses a pill. ABOUT THE GUEST Masha Niv is associate professor and vice dean of research and development at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, located in Rehovot. A computational pharmacologist by training, she built BitterDB - the first dedicated database of bitter compounds - and has mapped the structural and chemical properties governing ligand promiscuity across all 25 human bitter taste receptor subtypes. Her lab uses homology modeling, machine learning, and collaborative sensory experiments to predict bitterness, identify antagonists, and understand how taste GPCRs function in tissues far from the tongue. She was also a key contributor to the GCCR consortium's large-scale chemosensory research during the COVID-19 pandemic. SCIENTIFIC THEMES OF THE CONVERSATION The architecture of bitter taste receptor diversity - 25 subtypes, ligand promiscuity, and the challenge of orphan receptors with no known ligand Extraoral expression of taste GPCRs - physiological roles in the airways, gut, heart, and cancer tissues Receptor-ligand matchmaking - applying recommendation system logic to the bitter taste receptor family Sweet taste receptor biology and the heavy water paradox - what a single atomic substitution reveals about receptor sensitivity Bitterness as a drug development variable - machine learning prediction, formulation consequences, and the FDA's late entry into the conversation COVID-19 and chemosensory science - how a global consortium formed from a handful of tweets and what it found about taste and smell loss KEY INSIGHTS FROM THE CONVERSATION 1. Bitter taste receptors are built to activate, not to be blocked Bitter taste GPCRs are structurally unusual within the broader GPCR family - they lack several conserved motifs and disulfide bridges present in most other subfamilies. Niv argues this architecture reflects evolutionary logic: a receptor whose job is to detect potential toxins before consumption should be maximally sensitive to activation. The cost is that finding antagonists for these receptors has proven far more difficult than finding agonists, a pharmacological asymmetry her lab is actively working to resolve. 2. Bitterness and toxicity are not the same thing - and the field had to prove it A long-standing assumption in both traditional medicine and drug development treated bitterness as a proxy for toxicity. Niv's work directly challenged that correlation: many intensely bitter compounds are non-toxic, and many toxic compounds are not bitter at all. Recognizing that distinction opened space for a more nuanced view of bitter compounds in nutrition and pharmacology - including the possibility that some bitterness in diet is associated with health benefit, not harm. 3. The drug bitterness blind spot persisted for decades because no one built the right tool early enough Drug discovery workflows screen extensively for efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics - but bitterness prediction was rarely incorporated until clinical or even post-market stages. Niv's lab developed a machine learning predictor trained on intensely bitter compounds that can flag bitterness risk from chemical structure alone, early in the development pipeline. The FDA recently made taste reporting a formal requirement, a regulatory shift Niv sees as overdue. 4. A single atomic change in water is enough to activate the sweet taste receptor Deuterated water - in which hydrogen is replaced by the heavier isotope deuterium - produces a measurable sweet signal in sensory experiments. Niv's lab showed that this response depends on the T1R2/T1R3 heterodimer sweet taste receptor: a known receptor inhibitor suppresses the sweetness of heavy water. What makes this finding unusual is the magnitude of the effect relative to the size of the chemical change - the mechanism is still under investigation, but the receptor involvement is established. 5. Taste receptor expression throughout the body reshapes the meaning of drug off-targets Bitter taste receptors are expressed not only in taste receptor cells on the tongue but in the upper airways, gut, heart, and certain cancer tissues. This extraoral distribution has practical consequences: drugs targeting other receptors may be inadvertently activating bitter taste GPCRs in the lung or intestine, contributing to effects that were never attributed to the right target. Niv sees this as one of the more underexplored dimensions of polypharmacology. 6. COVID-19 taste loss was a scientific detour that became something larger Niv had not planned to work on COVID-19 - she had never worked on viruses and was cautious about entering a field she did not know. When reports of taste impairment emerged, she felt obligated to contribute. A small cluster of Twitter exchanges became email threads, became a Slack workspace, became the GCCR consortium - a rapid-assembly international collaboration that surveyed tens of thousands of patients and found that while both smell and taste are impaired in the majority of symptomatic cases, smell loss is the stronger diagnostic signal. 7. The matchmaking problem - and why recommendation systems belong in receptor pharmacology With 25 subtypes, thousands of known bitter ligands, and a matrix of partial associations, the question of which compound activates which receptor is too large and too sparse for classical screening alone. Niv's lab is developing a recommendation system - trained on known receptor-ligand pairs and the structural properties of both - that can suggest candidate receptors for any new compound. The analogy she uses is direct: the system works the way a streaming platform learns your preferences from what similar users have watched. EPISODE TIMELINE Note: Timestamps below are AI-generated from the episode transcript and are approximate. Exact times may vary slightly from the final edited audio or video. 00:00 - Introduction and Dr. GPCR announcements 01:26 - Niv's career path - from theoretical chemistry in Russia and Israel to biotech, then a Cornell postdoc 08:03 - Choosing taste GPCRs as a research focus - how the arrival of GPCR structures made this the right moment 10:49 - The bitter taste receptor family - 25 subtypes, BitterDB, and the receptor-ligand matchmaking challenge 15:53 - Extraoral expression - bitter taste receptors in the airways, gut, heart, and cancer tissues 19:37 - Sweet taste receptors and an unexpected result - heavy water activates the T1R2/T1R3 heterodimer 23:53 - COVID-19 and chemosensory loss - how a global research consortium assembled from a handful of tweets 31:01 - The formulation problem - when a clinically effective drug fails because no one screened for bitterness 38:55 - Why bitter taste GPCRs resist antagonists - structural architecture and pharmacological consequences 41:58 - Taste GPCRs as drug targets - asthma, cardiac physiology, and early signals in cancer biology 44:18 - Rethinking bitterness in nutrition - the case for accepting bitter compounds in Western diet 50:13 - Advice for junior scientists and resources for the GPCR community SELECTED QUOTES "They are more prone to getting activated. They're missing some of the conserved motifs, some of the disulfide bridges. I think it has something to do with their architecture that makes it easier to activate them." "I often tell new PIs that the fact that I had to choose a topic with a specific flavor - that actually was good for me. Because that kind of made for me a niche which would be different from what my postdoc lab was doing." "It's such a small change and you get this effect. We know that the sweet taste receptor is involved - and how exactly, that is ongoing." "Let's not think about bitter as something just to get rid of, or try to put a lot of sugar on top of it so you don't feel it. Instead, try to get used to it - and accept that it's actually not bad." About this episode Dr. Niv is currently an associate professor and vice dean for research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Niv lab is also part of the Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research. Masha earned her Bachelor’s degree in chemistry, followed by a direct Ph.D. at the Institute of Chemistry, at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. Dr. Niv trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Weill Cornell Medical College. Her work focuses on both sweet and bitter taste receptor GPCRs and her lab established the BitterDB . Dr. Masha Niv on the web Niv Lab LinkedIn Twitter Pubmed Google Scholar Dr. GPCR Ecosystem Unlock the Full Dr. GPCR Learning Ecosystem ✔ Full Masterclass library ✔ Terry's Pharmacology Corner ✔ Advanced GPCR courses ✔ Scientific discussions → Become Premium Upcoming Live Expert Sessions ➚ 🔒Explore the Full Masterclass ➚ Enjoying the Dr. GPCR Podcast? Leave a Review. Leave a quick review to help more scientists find the show—and help us keep improving every episode. 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