Elliot Peterson Named NIH T32 Fellow

Medicinal Chemistry PhD student Elliot Peterson was named a NIH T32 Fellow! Elliot is advised by Dr. William Pomerantz and is in the University of Minnesota’s rigorous Medical Scientist Training Program. The MSTP confers both an MD and PhD at the completion of the program.

The NIH T32 training program is meant to enable institutions to recruit individuals for predoctoral and postdoctoral research training in specified shortage areas. The goal is to prepare qualified trainees for careers that have a significant impact on the health-related research needs of the nation.

Elliot was selected as a fellow on the Chemistry Biology Interface Training Grant housed here at the University of Minnesota. Predoctoral trainees for this training grant program are selected from a pool of graduate students who have been recruited by the Chemistry; Biochemistry, Molecular Biology & Biophysics (BMBB); and Medicinal Chemistry Departments. You can read more about the CBITG here.

Elliott was selected to work with Prof. William Pomerantz and Prof. Nicholas Levinson on the development and analysis of new ligands for Cereblon, an E3 ligase receptor protein that is frequently recruited for targeted protein degradation. The goal of this collaboration is to develop spectroscopic and fluorescence-based assays for quantitatively assessing how small-molecule ligands structurally remodel Cereblon and influence its protein-degradation activity. This assay will be used to design and optimize new Cereblon ligands and expand the drug-like properties of Cereblon-recruiting compounds like molecular glues and PROTACs.

You can read more about the Pomerantz Group’s work here.

As part of this training grant, Elliott will perform training and research in both the Pomerantz and Levinson labs, in addition to attending and presenting his work at the UMN Chemical Biology Colloquia. Elliott will also be involved in translational and clinical outreach, connecting his training in medicinal chemistry and biophysics with patient care and clinical trial enrollment.

We are proud of Elliot for this accomplishment and for his continued success in the demanding MSTP. Excellent work!