Project: 
One-compound, one-islet: A High-throughput Platform for Small-molecule Discovery

►Where are you from originally, and where did you go to school?

I grew up in Cherry Hill, NJ, and attended Harvard College as an undergraduate. I spent two years as a medical student at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia before deciding to pursue a research career, when I moved back to Cambridge to attend Harvard University, where I received my Ph.D.

►What is your current position?

I am the Director of Pancreatic Cell Biology & Metabolic Disease in the Chemical Biology & Therapeutics Science Program at the Broad. In 2017, I was named an Institute Scientist, a title shared by 23 senior professional scientists who work closely with faculty to provide scientific leadership at the Broad Institute.

►Why did you decide to become a researcher?

I have always been fascinated by mysteries, and what better mystery is there than how human biology works? Understanding mechanism – whether it be disease processes, cell function, or how newly discovered compounds work in our systems – has driven my research interests throughout my career.

►What is the “Big Picture” of what you study?

My group is focused on using chemical biology to develop novel therapeutic hypotheses for diabetes. We have developed assays for beta-cell proliferation, survival, identity, and insulin secretion, and have performed high-throughput screening for these phenotypes to identify new chemical compounds that impact beta-cell biology. Much of our efforts are also aimed at identifying the targets and mechanisms of action of these new compounds, which helps reveal new therapeutic targets in the human islet. More recently, we have developed new assays for genome-wide CRISPR screening, which will further uncover new targets for which we can discover compounds to modulate.

►What is your favorite aspect of your research?

My favorite aspect of research is the thrill of discovery. Taking a small molecule that induces an interesting phenotype (say, promoting glucose-dependent insulin secretion), and doing the detective work to understand how it actually works in cells, is incredibly challenging, but also an incredible satisfying process

► What do you hope to achieve with your research?

Ultimately, I would love to see the work I do form the basis of a treatment for diabetes. That goal could take the form of a new cellular target, a new therapeutic hypothesis, or even a new small molecule optimized for testing in humans.