Siobhan Malany, Ph.D.

Dr. Siobhan Malany started her pharmacology career in the biotechnology industry in San Diego and moved to Florida in 2011 to lead a chemical biology drug discovery team at the Sanford Burnham Chemical Genomics Center in Orlando. Dr. Malany became interested in space research after networking with administrators at Space Florida and CASIS. Her first launch was on SpaceX CRS-4 after winning a space research competition. She founded Micro-gRx in 2015, with seed funding from Space Florida to develop a human muscle cell system called a “lab-on-chip” that launched to the ISS in 2018. The same year, she transitioned to the College of Pharmacy at the University of Florida where she has advanced an engineered “Human muscle-on-Chip”. These tissue chips launched to the International Space Station in December 2020 to investigate the effects of microgravity on muscle biology. Interviews with Dr. Malany have aired on Channel 6 news and appeared in Authority Magazine Women Leading the Space Industry. She has been a guest on Radio Cade, a podcast from the Cade Museum of Creativity and Invention and on “Houston, we have a podcast,” the official podcast for Johnson Space Center. Dr. Malany holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Iowa and completed postdoctoral training in pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego.

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.