Raphael Franzini, PhD

Languages spoken: English

Academic Information

Departments: Medicinal Chemistry - Associate Professor

Academic Office Information

raphael.franzini@pharm.utah.edu

L.S. Skaggs Hall

30 S 2000 E, Room: Room 1926
Salt Lake City, UT 84112

Labs

Addressing the current challenges faced by clinicians will require an interdisciplinary approach combining knowledge of diverse fields. My research group focuses on the interfaces of Chemistry, Biology and Medicine with the aim of developing novel types of therapeutic agents, imaging probes and diagnostic assays. Standard experimental techniques used to achieve this goal include synthetic organic chemistry, instrumental analysis, and basic molecular biology methods. One focus is on the development of reaction-based delivery of therapeutics to solid tumors with an emphasis on genitourinary malignancies. Furthermore, we develop DNA-encoded library solutions to find new pharmaceuticals for cancers and age-related chronic diseases.

Selected Publications

  1. Tu J, Xu M, Franzini RM (2019). Dissociative Bioorthogonal Reactions. Chembiochem, 20(13), 1615-1627.
  2. Tu J, Svatunek D, Parvez S, Liu AC, Levandowski BJ, Eckvahl HJ, Peterson RT, Houk KN, Franzini RM (2019). Stable, Reactive, and Orthogonal Tetrazines: Dispersion Forces Promote the Cycloaddition with Isonitriles. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl, 58(27), 9043-9048.
  3. Yuen LH, Dana S, Liu Y, Bloom SI, Thorsell AG, Neri D, Donato AJ, Kireev D, Schler H, Franzini RM (2019). A Focused DNA-Encoded Chemical Library for the Discovery of Inhibitors of NAD+-Dependent Enzymes. J Am Chem Soc, 141(13), 5169-5181.
  4. Tu J, Xu M, Parvez S, Peterson RT, Franzini RM (2018). Bioorthogonal Removal of 3-Isocyanopropyl Groups Enables the Controlled Release of Fluorophores and Drugs in Vivo. J Am Chem Soc, 140(27), 8410-8414.
  5. Favalli N, Biendl S, Hartmann M, Piazzi J, Sladojevich F, Grslund S, Brown PJ, Nreoja K, Schler H, Scheuermann J, Franzini R, Neri D (2018). A DNA-Encoded Library of Chemical Compounds Based on Common Scaffolding Structures Reveals the Impact of Ligand Geometry on Protein Recognition. ChemMedChem, 13(13), 1303-1307.
  6. Xu M, Galindo-Murillo R, Cheatham TE, Franzini RM (2017). Dissociative reactions of benzonorbornadienes with tetrazines: scope of leaving groups and mechanistic insights. Org Biomol Chem, 15(46), 9855-9865.
  7. Xu M, Tu J, Franzini RM (2017). Rapid and efficient tetrazine-induced drug release from highly stable benzonorbornadiene derivatives. Chem Commun (Camb), 53(46), 6271-6274.
  8. Yuen LH, Franzini RM (2017). Achievements, Challenges, and Opportunities in DNA-Encoded Library Research: An Academic Point of View. Chembiochem, 18(9), 829-836.
  9. Yuen LH, Franzini RM (2017). Stability of Oligonucleotide-Small Molecule Conjugates to DNA-Deprotection Conditions. Bioconjug Chem, 28(4), 1076-1083.
  10. Franzini RM, Randolph C (2016). Chemical Space of DNA-Encoded Libraries. J Med Chem, 59(14), 6629-44.