Upcoming Seminar

Glycopolymers as Broad-Spectrum Anti-Viral Drugs
Dr. Katherine McReynolds, CSU Sacramento

April 18, 2024
4:00pm-5:00pm via Zoom

Join 4/18 Zoom
Meeting ID: 851 2876 6518
Passcode: 785758

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Carbohydrates are at the forefront of many biological processes, both normal and not. In diseases, such as those caused by viruses, carbohydrates on the host cell surface can be used by the virus for early stage viral attachment and infection. To this end, work in the McReynolds lab is focused on the development of carbohydrate-based polymers, or glycopolymers, to serve as mimics of host cell surface glycoproteins and bind to the viral surface glycoproteins to prevent the virus from infecting susceptible host cells. These synthetic compounds are envisioned as topical anti-viral drugs that can be employed when an emerging virus of concern begins infecting large numbers of people such that a pandemic can be averted, and lives saved. Currently, we are studying the potential of a variety of glycopolymers as broad spectrum anti-viral agents against two pandemic-causing viruses, HIV and SARS-CoV-2.

Dr. Katherine McReynolds is a native californian who received her BS in Biochemistry from Cal Poly SLO, and her MA and Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Arizona. Her Ph.D. thesis was titled: Synthesis of Anti-viral Glycolipids. Mentor: Jacquelyn Gervay-Hague. Dr. McReynolds then did a postdoc in cancer glycobiology at UC Davis in the College of Medicine in the laboratory of Dr. Frederic Troy. She has been faculty at CSU Sacramento since 2001. She is currently a Professor of Chemistry and serving in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Dean's Office as Faculty Fellow for Research and Engagement. Dr. MyReynolds is also currently the statewide chair of CSU Biotech.