Ku-Lung (Ken) Hsu
Company: The University of Texas at Austin
Job title: Associate Professor - Chemistry
Bio:
Prof. Ku-Lung (Ken) Hsu earned his PhD in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin where he trained with Prof. Lara Mahal to pioneer the development of protein microarrays for global profiling of complex glycosylation on bacterial and tumor cells. He pursued further training in activity-based protein profiling (ABPP) and mass spectrometry-based lipidomics with Prof. Ben Cravatt at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) as a Hewitt Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellow.
Prof. Hsu launched his independent career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Virginia (UVA) in 2015. At UVA, Prof. Hsu and his group used chemistry and chemical biology methods to decipher the biological roles of proteins involved in the metabolism of lipids. Dr. Hsu received an early promotion to Associate Professor with tenure in 2020. Prof. Hsu was recruited to the Department of Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin in 2022 as a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Scholar Rising Star and the Stephen F. and Fay Evans Martin Endowed Associate Professor. At UT, Prof. Hsu is developing tunable covalent chemistry to study proteins and functional sites beyond the reach of current proteomic methodologies. Recently, his group developed sulfur-triazole exchange (SuTEx) chemistry as a new covalent binder of tyrosine and lysine sites on RNA-binding proteins to affect assembly of ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes known as cytoplasmic condensates in cells.
Prof. Hsu’s research program has been recognized by several awards including the highly competitive NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, Department of Defense CDMRP Career Development Award, Melanoma Research Alliance Young Investigator Award, the NSF CAREER Award, and the Emerging Leader Award from The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research.
Seminars:
Emerging Modalities Beyond Splice Modulation: Harnessing Covalent Binders, Proximity-Inducing Compounds & lncRNA Targets to Discover Functional RNA Binders 1:00 pm
While splice modulation has paved the way for RNA-targeted therapeutics, the next frontier lies in unlocking the therapeutic potential of directly targeting RNA. This workshop explores innovative strategies exploring covalently binding RNA, bivalent compounds inducing proximity between RNA and effector molecules, and the untapped opportunity of targeting long non-coding RNAs. Attendees will cover: • Exploring…Read more
day: Pre Conference workshop day