Chemist advances cancer research

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, or CPRIT, has awarded UTD $6 million as part of a recruitment grant to hire world-class synthetic chemist Rudi Fasan from the University of Rochester.

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CPRIT Chief Scientific Officer Michelle Le Beau said the organization aims to develop the research prowess of Texas institutions and works closely with universities that nominate stellar investigators for a CPRIT award. Inga Musselman, the vice president for academic affairs and provost, nominated Fasan as an investigator to join UTD, and Le Beau noted the university’s strong commitment to growing their drug development program.

“Dr. Fasan is going to be a very critical recruit to join the faculty in the center,” Le Beau said. “He is a world-class synthetic chemist and his research involves developing new biologically-active molecules that can be developed for cancer therapeutics.”

A recipient of the Chair in Synthetic Organic Chemistry at the University of Rochester, Fasan said he developed an interest in cancer research since the field correlated with chemistry and biomedical science, two areas he has worked in extensively during his career.

“Our research is very much focused on the chemistry side and developing methods to make molecules,” Fasan said. “We enjoy being able to construct and build molecules. On the other end, we're also very interested in finding [some] sort of useful application for these molecules. And clearly cancer is such a major human health problem, so being able to provide our contribution in that research is what really drives our work.”

Fasan said he studied pharmaceutical chemistry as an undergraduate in Italy and later worked on interdisciplinary research between chemistry and biology in graduate school in Switzerland. He later moved to the U.S. and worked on laboratory evolution of proteins and enzymes for his postdoctoral degree along with Francis Arnold, the 2018 chemistry Nobel Laureate from Caltech.

“His work on new-to-nature enzymes has taught us a great deal about how evolution creates novelty,” Arnold said. “It also beautifully demonstrates how the combination of deep chemical knowledge and an appreciation for enzymes can solve challenging problems in chemistry. Rudi is a brilliant researcher, with a great track record of creative work.”

Following his academic career, Fasan had the opportunity to start his own lab at the University of Rochester in 2008. The Fasan Lab focuses on two major areas: developing enzymes and biocatalysts for chemical synthesis and developing methods to synthesize both the derivative of natural product and macro peptides for biomedical applications.

“That’s where I sort of merged what I