Therapeutic Sciences Graduate Program

The Kizer lab aims to develop tools that enable a deeper understanding of complex carbohydrates (glycans) implicated in human health and disease. We leverage a multidisciplinary approach toward this end, engaging techniques across chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, and engineering in each of our main research areas: glycan binding proteins for carbohydrate recognition in cancer; glycosyltransferase microreactors for chemoenzymatic synthesis of defined glycans; and nanostructured glycoconjugates for vaccine development against multidrug resistant bacteria. The materials developed in each project area will be applied in biomedical research settings, ranging from targeted therapeutic delivery and point-of-care diagnostics, to tissue engineering and immune modulation.