MUSMedical University of South Carolina · Biology
Duncan Lab
Stephen A Duncan · Charleston, South Carolina
Research Focus
Stephen A. Duncan's lab focuses on discovering new drugs that can lower cholesterol production in the liver, which is crucial for addressing high cholesterol issues in patients. By using a type of liver cell derived from human stem cells, the lab investigates the effects of several small molecules that inhibit a specific enzyme called carboxylesterase 1. These findings could lead to treatments for conditions like familial hypercholesterolemia and fatty liver disease without the side effects associated with current cholesterol medications.
cholesterol reductionliver biologysmall molecule inhibitorscarboxylesterase 1hypercholesterolemiasteatosisdrug discoveryhuman iPSCcholesterol lowering agents
Research Aims
3AIM 01Identify how the compounds bind to carboxylesterase 1 and their specificity.
AIM 02Establish the role of CES1 in the production of lipoprotein cholesterol using iPSC-hepatocytes.
AIM 03Evaluate the effectiveness of the compounds in lowering cholesterol in humanized mouse models.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturehuman induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)biochemical assayscrystallographymouse modelsenzyme inhibition techniquescompound screeninghigh-resolution imagingmolecular binding studies
Output against the department
Publications170top 39% of dept.403rd of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations17ktop 23% of dept.240th of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.