Samuel L Gary

Chemistry being developed in the Bloom lab is aimed at high-throughput, visible light-catalyzed synthesis of peptides containing unique amino acids and structural motifs. My research focus is on the extension of this chemistry towards the study of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). HIV persists as a global health burden. The majority of therapeutic agents against HIV target viral enzymes, which are highly prone to mutation and contribute to the development of widespread drug resistance. The binding of a highly conserved region of viral RNA and nucleocapsid protein 7 is essential for viral replication and has shown promise as a drug target, yet remains relatively unexplored. Our chemistry is being applied to readily synthesize diverse peptides as chemical probes to further characterize this interaction. The culmination of this research may ultimately lead to a new class of HIV therapeutic agents which avoid the risk of drug resistance.