PhD in Pharmacology, Baylor College of Medicine 

My research focus is in the application of Quantitative Systems Pharmacology (QSP) to develop more effective drug discovery strategies that utilize integrated computational and phenotype/function-based analysis. I lead QSP projects addressing neurodegeneration including traumatic brain injury (TBI), Huntington’s Disease (HD), and Alzheimer’s Disease, integrating clinical, computational and experimental analyses, including development of iPSC derived cell-based models, to gain a comprehensive understanding of disease pathology with which to inform effective therapeutic approaches for disease management.   With over 20 years’ experience in the pharma industry including target identification/target validation, high throughput screening, and hit-to-lead development, I also guide collaborators on more traditional drug discovery approaches that utilize High Content Analysis (HCA).  I have also co-led the development and commercialization of the BioSystics Analytics Platform (BioSystics-AP) for the management, analysis, and computational modeling of experimental data. 

1.  Sanders, J., et al., Validation of a high throughput screening assay to identify small molecules that target the eukaryotic replicative helicase. SLAS Discov, 2022.
2.  Sakolish, C., et al., Analysis of reproducibility and robustness of a human microfluidic four-cell liver acinus microphysiology system (LAMPS). Toxicology, 2021. 448: p. 152651.
3.  Schurdak, M., et al., Applications of the microphysiology systems database for experimental ADME-Tox and disease models. Lab Chip, 2020. 20(8): p. 1472-1492.
4.  Taylor, D.L., et al., Harnessing Human Microphysiology Systems as Key Experimental Models for Quantitative Systems Pharmacology. Handb Exp Pharmacol, 2019. 260: p. 327-367.
5.  Schurdak, M.E., et al., A Quantitative Systems Pharmacology Approach to Infer Pathways Involved in Complex Disease Phenotypes. Methods Mol Biol, 2018. 1787: p. 207-222.
6.  Gough, A., et al., Integrating Analysis of Cellular Heterogeneity in High-Content Dose-Response Studies. Methods Mol Biol, 2018. 1745: p. 25-46.
7.  Pei, F., et al., Connecting Neuronal Cell Protective Pathways and Drug Combinations in a Huntington's Disease Model through the Application of Quantitative Systems Pharmacology. Sci Rep, 2017. 7(1): p. 17803.