Jennifer Pace

Jennifer Pace

Associate Professor

1-603-641-7382

jpace@anselm.edu

Education

  • 2013 - Saint Anselm College, Biochemistry

  • 2018 - University of Connecticut

     

The Pace lab has been awarded a NH-INBRE research grant for FY21 and FY22, for a project titled 'Synthesis and Evaluation of Flufenamic Acid Analogues for Hippo Pathway Inhibition'.  This grant ($200k+) will provide money for supplies, new equipment including - an iBright CL750 Imaging System and Schrodinger Computational Docking Software, and money to fund student research stipends.

My research interests lie at the interface of chemistry and biology.  More specifically, I am interested in using small molecules to study biological pathways involved in disease. Students who join my laboratory will obtain an interdisciplinary research experience and will learn a wide range of laboratory skills spanning synthetic organic chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology.  

Synthesis and Evaluation of Small Molecules for Hippo Pathway Inhibition

The Hippo signaling pathway is a phosphorylation cascade that plays a crucial role in cell and tissue homeostasis.  Dysregulation of the Hippo pathway results in uncontrolled cell proliferation and tumorigenesis primarily associated with liver, breast, and pancreatic cancers.  The overall goal of this project is to develop potent and selective small molecule inhibitors targeting the Hippo pathway.  These small molecule inhibitors will serve as tools for further exploring the role of the Hippo pathway within cancer and eventually may serve as potential chemotherapeutic agents.