Ravinder Abrol
Associate Professor

Brief Biography

Research in the Abrol Lab lies at the interface of Chemistry and Biology. The lab develops and uses methods in computational biophysics and structural bioinformatics to understand the biochemistry of GPCR signaling and to use structural modeling for rationally developing therapeutics. Dr. Abrol was the recipient of the NIH Build-Poder Faculty Mentor of the Year award in 2018.

A major focus in the lab is on G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that comprise the largest superfamily of integral membrane proteins that help a cell to convert extracellular signals into multiple intracellular signaling cascades. This critical role of GPCRs makes them therapeutic targets for ~40% of all modern drugs. Multiple signaling effects of GPCRs targeted by drugs can cause on-target side-effects, so a molecular understanding of GPCR function is essential for rational drug discovery to minimize those side-effects. The conformational flexibility of GPCRs plays a mechanistic role in their function, so the lab is focused on developing and applying methods in computational biochemistry and biophysics to provide this mechanistic link between receptor structure and downstream signaling.

Another focus in the lab is the use of structure-based development of therapeutics for curing diabetes and drug delivery systems for treating breast cancer.

See this link for recent publications from the Abrol Lab:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/ravinder.abrol.1/bibliography/public/

Research 

Structural Biology Biochemistry Biophysics Cellular and Molecular Physiology Pharmacology

Connections