Dr. Jeffrey Neighbors’ lab is focused on drug development. One current research project is centered on the development of novel agents which inhibit steps in the mevalonate (cholesterol synthesis) pathway to reduce transcription of genes targeted by the Hippo pathway transcription factor TAZ as potential treatments for osteosarcoma.

Additionally, the lab is studying the potential for statin drugs that inhibit this same pathway as treatment for neuroblastoma and other cancers.

A completely different project looks at a family of natural products, pawhuskins, isolated from a prairie plant, that have antagonist activity at several opioid receptors and are under investigation for the potential to increase wound healing by inhibiting opioid growth factor activity.

Before coming to Penn State, Dr. Neighbors worked for a small biotech company driving the drug development efforts and has experience integrating development activity across disciplines from chemical synthesis to pharmacokinetics and ADME/DMPK studies.