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Blake R. Peterson
Title
Professor & Chair
Unit / Department / Division
Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy
Address
606 Riffe Building
Email Address
Phone Number
Professional Interests
Professional Interests
Organic / Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology
The Peterson laboratory synthesizes chemical tools for studies of biological systems. We investigate diverse biological targets, and we extensively employ fluorescence-based and imaging-based methods to evaluate the effects of small molecules on isolated proteins, living cells, and model organisms. Working in the fields of organic / medicinal chemistry and chemical biology, our recent research efforts have been focused on the discovery of new types of anticancer agents, identification of their biomolecular targets, and the synthesis of probes of molecular mechanisms of action.
Support Staff
Amber Williams, Administrative Associate
Education
- B.S. Chemistry, University of Nevada, Reno, 1990
- Ph.D. Chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, 1994
- Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University 1995-1998
Honors
- Named the John W. Wolfe Chair in Cancer Research, 2020
- Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2013
- Regents Distinguished Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, The University of Kansas, 2008-2019
- Named an Eminent Scholar by the Kansas Bioscience Authority, 2008
- Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar, 2004
- View all honors
Journal Articles
- Knewtson, K. E.; Perera, C.; Hymel, D.; Gao, Z.; Lee, M. M.; Peterson, B. R. “Antibody-Drug Conjugate that Exhibits Synergistic Cytotoxicity with an Endosome Disruptive Peptide” ACS Omega, 2019, 7, 12955-12968.
- Punchi Hewage, A. N. D.; Yao, H.; Nammalwar, B.; Gnanasekaran, K. K.; Lovell, S.; Bunce, R. A.; Eshelman, K.; Phaniraj, S. M.; Lee, M. M.; Peterson, B. R.; Battaile, K. P.; Reitz, A. B.; Rivera, M. “Small molecule inhibitors of the BfrB-Bfd interaction decrease Pseudomonas aeruginosa fitness and potentiate fluoroquinolone activity” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141 (20), 8171-8184.
- Knewtson, K. E.; Rane, D.; Peterson, B. R. “Targeting Fluorescent Sensors to Endoplasmic Reticulum Membranes Enables Detection of Peroxynitrite During Cellular Phagocytosis” ACS Chem. Biol. 2018, 13 (9), 2595-2602.
- Lee M. M.; Gao, Z.; Peterson, B. R. “Synthesis of a Fluorescent Analogue of Paclitaxel that Selectively Binds Microtubules and Sensitively Detects P-Glycoprotein” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 36, 6927-6931.
- Meinig, J. M.; Fu, L.; Peterson, B. R. “Synthesis of Fluorophores that Target Small Molecules to the Endoplasmic Reticulum of Living Mammalian Cells” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2015, 54 (33), 9696-9699.
- View all journal articles