Making Every Penny Count: Kinase Signaling Transduction, Copper Homeostasis, & Nutrient Sensing.

Abstract

Dr. Donita C. Brady is the Harrison McCrea Dickson, MD, and Clifford C. Baker, MD Presidential Associate Professor of Cancer Biology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. She earned her BS in Chemistry from Radford University and her PhD in Pharmacology from UNC-Chapel Hill before completing postdoctoral training at Duke University with Dr. Christopher Counter. At Penn, Dr. Brady leads a research program pioneeringmetalloallostery, where redox-active metals regulate kinase activity. Her lab investigates the intersection of kinase signaling and copper (Cu) homeostasis, identifying Cu-dependent kinases and developing targeted therapies through drug repurposing and novel drug design. Her work has advanced our understanding of metals in nutrient signaling, energy homeostasis, and cancer metabolism. Dr. Brady has received numerous honors, including being a Pew Biomedical Scholar, a V Foundation Scholar, and the recipient of the Perelman School of Medicine's Michael S. Brown New Investigator Research Award. A dedicated advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA), she has spent the past decade addressing barriers to representation in STEM. In 2021, she was appointed the inaugural Assistant Dean for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (IDE) in Research Training at Penn, leading efforts to foster an inclusive research environment. For these contributions, she received the 2022 Vanderbilt Basic Science Juneteenth Icon Award and the Penn Biomedical Graduate Studies Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Group Community Service Award.