University of California-Irvine · ChemistryAntiparasitic Drug Development Lab
Christopher D Vanderwal · Irvine, California
Research Focus
Dr. Christopher Vanderwal's lab focuses on developing new treatments for malaria and babesiosis, both caused by parasites. The lab investigates a compound derived from leelamine that shows promise against these diseases. The goal is to create effective drugs that can combat resistant strains of the parasites and assess their safety and mechanisms of action.
malariababesiosisisonitriledrug resistanceantiparasitic agents
Research Aims
3AIM 01Evaluate the biological activity and pharmacological properties of leelamine-derived compounds against malaria and babesiosis.
AIM 02Generate a library of diverse leelamine-derived isonitriles to optimize their therapeutic potential.
AIM 03Elucidate the mechanisms of action and resistance of lead compounds against Plasmodium and Babesia.
Skills the Lab Values
chemical synthesisin vitro assaysin vivo mouse modelspharmacokineticsstructure-activity relationship studies
Output against the department
Publications291top 38% of dept.83rd of 216
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations4.5kbottom 33% of dept.145th of 216
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.