Siobhan Malany, Ph.D.

Siobhan Malany received her Ph.D. in organic chemistry and enzymology at the University of Iowa and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego prior to extending her studies at the Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research in Germany as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow. Returning to San Diego, Malany led receptor pharmacology drug discovery efforts at Neurocrine Biosciences. In 2010, Malany joined the Sanford Burnham Prebys Institute in Orlando. As Director of Translational Biology, her research focused on receptor pharmacology and human stem cell-derived phenotypic platforms for therapeutic discovery for cardiometabolic diseases. She was recipient of the 2014 GSK Discovery Partnership with Academia Award. In Florida, she became interested in space medicine and is studying the effects of microgravity on human muscle biology using an automated tissue chip system as a microphysiological model of age-related musculoskeletal disease. Malany was named one of 2017 Faces of Technology by Florida’s High Tech Corridor and in 2018, her lab-on-a-chip payload launched to the ISS on Cygnus NG-10 vehicle. Shortly thereafter, she received a mayoral proclamation for her achievements in STEM.

Research in my laboratory seeks to implement improved in vitro cell based systems to better predict human drug efficacy particularly for age-related diseases by 1) leveraging the physiological relevance of patient-specific cells in combination with phenotypic microscopy and chemogenomic approaches to measure changes in responses to physical stressors; and 2) advance receptor target-based platforms using receptor-specific and selective ligands and mechanistic pharmacology approaches to understand drug mode of action (e.g. kinetics, allosterism).

With funding from NIH-NCATS Tissue Chip Program, we are developing a microphysiological system for age-related muscle wasting (sarcopenia). We are using patient-specific muscle primary cells in 3D culture integrated into a millifluidic device that will be placed on the International Space Station research laboratory to serve as a micro-scale model for studying physical changes induced in microgravity that may mimic aging and for predictive drug and toxicology testing to aide in the development of therapeutics for sarcopenia.

The natriuretic peptide receptors GC-A and GC-B mediate the effects of a family of hormone peptides. Elevated levels of ANP and BNP target the GC-A receptor and provide protection against hypertension and metabolic syndrome; whereas, CNP activation of the GC-B receptor provides anti-fibrotic benefit. We are focused, in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic, on the discoveryofsmallmoleculeallostericpotentiators of GC receptor / cGMP signalingpathway as therapeutics for cardiovascular disease.

The chemokine receptor, CXCR6 is a seven transmembrane domain G protein–coupled receptor (GPCR) target for the natural ligand, CXCL16, a chemokine that attracts natural killer T cells to the liver. We have developed small molecule antagonists targeting the CXCR6/CXCL16 axis to understand mechanism of action and therapeutic potential in liver fibrosis and disease.

0000-0003-0710-7460