Katie Brady
Advisor: Jefferson Chan
Cohort: 2019
Degree: PhD 2024
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellowship for Scientific Writing at the Institute for Genomic Biology, UIUC

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are short lived and chemically reactive species containing oxygen such as singlet oxygen, superoxide, and peroxynitrite. At endogenous concentrations, these species have been shown to be important in cellular signaling and redox homeostasis. Alternatively, increased levels are associated with oxidative stress, are damaging to cells, and can result in apoptosis and necrosis. My research is focused on developing small molecule near-infrared light-controllable donors of ROS to allow for spaciotemporal control and monitoring of dosage to help study the roles and pathways of ROS, as well as applying these donors to photodynamic therapy of cancer.