Accelerating transmembrane protein drug discovery
We are poised to rapidly advance our transporter and ion channel programs leveraging advances in protein purification, structural determination, and mechanistic assays.
World-class expertise in structural biology paired with industry leaders in membrane protein pharmacology
Bruce P. Bean, PhD
Robert Winthrop Professor
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
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Bruce P. Bean, PhD
Bruce Bean is Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. He did his Ph.D. research in Biophysics the University of Rochester, did post-doctoral work in cardiac electrophysiology with Richard W. Tsien at Yale University Medical School, and has had previous faculty positions at the University of Iowa and at the Vollum Institute of Oregon Health Sciences University. His research focuses on understanding the diversity of ion channels in different kinds of mammalian neurons and using that knowledge to develop new treatments for pathophysiological conditions, including epilepsy, pain, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Jue Chen, PhD
William Ford Professor
The Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University
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Jue Chen, PhD
Jue Chen is the William E. Ford Professor at Rockefeller University and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She received her bachelor’s of science in chemistry from Ohio University in 1993, and Ph.D. in biochemistry from Harvard University in 1998, where she was advised by Dr. Don C. Wiley. She did postdoctoral work at Baylor College of Medicine with Dr. Florante A. Quiocho. She joined the faculty at Purdue University in 2002 and moved to Rockefeller University in 2014. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2019. Chen’s research focuses on ATP transporters including cystic fibrosis conductance regulator (CFTR), the transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP), and the multidrug transporters P-glycoprotein and MRP1.
Roderick MacKinnon, PhD
Nobel Laureate; John D. Rockefeller Jr. Professor
The Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University
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Roderick MacKinnon, PhD
Roderick MacKinnon received the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the structure and operation of ion channels. He is the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Professor and head of the Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics at Rockefeller University and studies the principles of electricity production in living cells through analysis of ion channel structure and function. He received an MD from Tufts University School of Medicine, completed internal medicine residency at the Beth Israel Hospital Boston. Following postdoctoral studies with Christopher Miller at Brandeis university he joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School from 1989 to 1995 before moving to Rockefeller University.
Magdalene Moran, PhD
CEO
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Magdalene Moran, PhD
Dr. Magdalene Moran is the Chief Executive Officer of Topo Therapeutics. She received her PhD in Neurobiology from Harvard University where she was advised by ion channel expert Dr. David Clapham. For more than 20 years, Dr. Moran has led drug discovery efforts on transmembrane protein targets implicated in pain, pulmonary, CNS and renal diseases, advancing 4 programs from inception into the clinic with large pharma partners. Most recently, Dr. Moran was the President and Chief Scientific Officer of Caraway Therapeutics, where she built out operations, drove scientific strategy, and led drug discovery efforts for multiple challenging ion channel targets from the company’s inception through its acquisition by Merck in November 2023.