Jesse Horne

​Inspiration for future drug leads often comes from the world around us— the natural world. Both plants and microorganisms provide an untapped potential for novel pharmaceutical compounds— including for the treatment of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and many others. My previous research experience while at The University of Alabama included a nanoparticle-based drug discovery platform for sodium-ion channel subtype-selective drug leads to inhibit cancer metastasis with Dr. Yuping Bao. The platform was also evaluated for determining tropomyosin receptor kinase B binders towards future Alzheimer’s disease treatments. I have also worked with Dr. Ryan Summers to determine caffeine’s effect on the common reporter gene lacZ in Escherichia coli. Broadly, my interests include synthetic biology, microbial engineering, bioprocessing, and cell culture. I look forward to continuing the applied engineering of biological systems