Guangrong Zheng, Ph.D., an associate professor of medicinal chemistry, secured a $400,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute to develop a small molecule protein degrader for cancer treatment.
Zheng’s project will employ an emerging drug discovery technology, PROTAC, coupled with an innovative concept of E3 ligase-based tissue specific induction of target protein degradation, to overcome the dose-
limiting thrombocytopenia associated with Bcl-2/Bcl-xL inhibitors.
Zheng joined the UF College of Pharmacy in March 2018. Prior to joining UF, he served as an associate professor in the department of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.