Speakers: Gerald Wyckoff, PhD
Gerald Wyckoff, PhD
Professor, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
University of Missouri – Kansas City
With a focus on how evolutionary knowledge can factor into drug discovery, Dr. Wyckoff has been at work creating and deploying new algorithms for better handling the targets of new chemical entities. The disconnect between proteins involved with disease and those generally targeted by commercially successful drugs is especially worrisome as drug target selection usually follows disease mapping initiatives, and this has led to current research in the Wyckoff lab. A special focus in his career has been translating knowledge into the classroom, especially focusing on non-science majors to get them interested in careers in life and health sciences. His lab deals with aspects of Bioinformatics database development, study of evolutionary processes at the molecular level, large scale comparative genomics, sexual selection. This has led to the creation and implementation of a One Health database for sharing animal and human clinical and drug discovery data.