Fairchild Building Room 614A Tel 212.854.2948 Email bs2198@columbia.edu
	RESEARCH THEME: My laboratory has created new tools for facilitating the use of small molecules to study biology, including: (i) a polymer-based microarray system for testing the effects of thousands of small molecules on cells, (ii) computational tools for analyzing high-throughput screening data and protein networks, (iii) the first collection of thousands of annotated small molecules and (iv) a mass spectrometry-based method of evaluating gene expression signatures in high-throughput. We have used these tools to discover compounds and mechanisms that modulate context-dependent lethality. For example, we have found compounds that prevent mutant-huntingtin-induced apoptosis and compounds that eliminate tumor cells harboring specific mutations, but have minimal effects on normal cells lacking such mutations. In addition, we have developed methods for detecting upregulation of the survival motor neuron (SMN) protein in a high-throughput fashion. We are using these methods to identify compounds and mechanisms for upregulating SMN protein. These compounds will become drug leads for treating the devastating and incurable motor neuron disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy. BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION : Brent R. Stockwell, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Department of Chemistry at Columbia University. His research involves application of chemical genetics to the study of orphan genetic diseases, including sarcomas, spinal muscular atrophy and Huntington's disease. Prior to joining the faculty of Columbia University, he was a Fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, where he developed new tools for chemical genetics and identified novel compounds with relevance to cancer and neurodegeneration. In 2000, he co-founded CombinatoRx, where he continues to serve as a scientific advisor. Dr. Stockwell studied organic chemistry and molecular biology during his graduate training under Stuart L. Schreiber in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University. While at Harvard, he was awarded National Science Foundation and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Pre-doctoral Fellowships, and a number of teaching awards. Dr. Stockwell received his A.B. degree from Cornell University, graduating Summa cum Laude with membership in Phi Beta Kappa and a dual major in chemistry and economics. In 2002, he received a Career Award at the Scientific Interface from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund for his interdisciplinary research. Dr. Stockwell is a member of the editorial board of Chemistry & Biology, a member of the New York Academy of Sciences Chemical Biology Program Committee and has served as a reviewer for numerous journals and funding organizations, including NIH. EDUCATION AND TRAINING: 1994 BA, Chemistry, Economics, Cornell University 1997 MA, Chemistry, Harvard University 1999 Ph.D., Chemistry, Harvard University HONORS AND AWARDS : 1992 Cornell Chemistry Department CRC Press Award 1993 Cornell Chemistry Department Harold Adlard Lovenberg Prize 1994 Cornell Chemistry Department Mandelkern Prize 1994 Phi Beta Kappa, graduated Summa cum Laude 1997 Nominated for Joseph Levenson Award for Outstanding Harvard Teaching Fellow 1994-95 National Science Foundation Research Fellow 1995, 1999 Harvard University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching 1995-99 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Predoctoral Fellow 1999-2003 Whitehead Fellow 2000, 2001 Whitehead Institute Fink Fellowship 2002-06 Burroughs-Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface SELECTED PUBLICATIONS : Stockwell BR (2004) Exploring Biology with Small Organic Molecules. Nature,432 (7019): 846-54. Lunn MR, Root DE, Martino AM, Flaherty SP, Kelley BP, Coovert DD, Burghes AH, Man NT, Morris GE, Zhou J, Androphy EJ, Sumner CJ, Stockwell BR (2004) Indoprofen upregulates the survival motor neuron (SMN) protein through a cyclooxygenase-independent mechanism. Chemistry & Biology 11(11): 1489-1493. Bailey SN, Sabatini DM*, Stockwell BR (2004) Microarrays of small molecules embedded in biodegradable polymers for use in mammalian cell-based screens. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 101(46): 16144-16149. Root DE, Flaherty SP, Kelley BP and Stockwell BR (2003) Biological Mechanism Profiling Using an Annotated Compound Library. Chemistry & Biology, 10(9):881-92. Borisy AA, Elliott PJ, Lehar J, Hurst NW, Lee MS, Price ER, Serbedzija G, Zimmermann GR, Foley MA, Stockwell BR, Keith CT (2003) Systematic Discovery of Novel Multi-Component Therapeutics. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 100 (13), 7977-7982. 12. Stockwell BR (2002) Chemical Genetic Screening Approaches to Neurobiology. Neuron, 36, 559-562.		IMAGE 1 Click image to enlarge. IMAGE 2 Click image to enlarge. IMAGE 3 Click image to enlarge. IMAGE 4 Click image to enlarge. IMAGE 5 Click image to enlarge.

Home   Contact Us   © Columbia University Center for Motor Neuron Biology and Disease