What can we expect from GPCRs in antibodies and biologics? In this episode of The Chain, host Rajesh Sundaresan, PhD, Scientific Leader and GSK Fellow of Protein Cell and Structural Sciences at GlaxoSmithKline, speaks with Thomas P. Sakmar, MD, Professor of Chemical Biology at Rockefeller University, about the history of GPCRs and various subunits, his early work with rhodopsin, and the impact of crystallography and structural work. He also shares how he got started with molecular biology training, as well as his thoughts on the state-of-the art for both biologics and small molecules in drug discovery.  

Thomas P. Sakmar, MD, Professor, Chemical Biology, Rockefeller University
Thomas Sakmar is the Richard M. and Isabel P. Furlaud Professor at The Rockefeller University where he heads the Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Signal Transduction. Dr. Sakmar uses interdisciplinary approaches to study the molecular mechanism of transmembrane signaling by G protein-coupled receptors. Dr. Sakmar received an A.B. in chemistry from the University of Chicago and his M.D. from Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine. He carried out clinical training at the Massachusetts General Hospital before doing postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studying DNA chemistry and gene synthesis. He has been an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a Senior Scholar of the Ellison Medical Foundation, the Marie Krogh Visiting Professor at University of Copenhagen and Guest Professor at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. <

Rajesh Sundaresan, PhD, Scientific Leader and GSK Fellow, Protein Cell and Structural Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline Rajesh Sundaresan has a PhD from the Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan. Carried out over 15 years of academic research at Riken, Japan, and University of Birmingham, UK, developing and applying NMR methods for protein-protein, protein-lipid interactions, and membrane protein signaling. At GSK, Stevenage has applied his knowledge of membrane protein signaling and interactions to enable biologics discovery for soluble and membrane protein targets, for both standard and bispecific formats.