Staff Profile: Stephen C. Kales

Stephen C. Kales, Ph.D.

Research Scientist, Functional Group Lead

Division of Preclinical Innovation
Early Translation Branch (Contractor)

National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences

National Institutes of Health

Email Stephen C. Kales

Biography

Stephen Kales is a research scientist, functional group lead in the Early Translation Branch within NCATS' Division of Preclinical Innovation. Drawing from his diverse background in biological systems, Kales collaborates to develop a rich target portfolio and was recently appointed to the Antiviral Program for Pandemics for which he leads a target-based assay group to support the discovery and development of novel antiviral therapeutics.

Prior to joining NCATS, Kales was a research fellow with the National Cancer Institute, where he investigated the role of novel mutations and protein-protein interactions in growth factor receptor signaling and solid tumor development.

Kales received his doctorate in biology from the University of Waterloo in Canada, where he applied a variety of molecular techniques to study immune function and host-pathogen interactions.

Research Topics

Kales enjoys the collaborative research environment and project diversity at NCATS. With his colleagues in biology, chemistry, informatics and engineering, he strives to build productive collaborations with researchers from academia, government and industry. His current high-throughput screening and repurposing projects span a wide range of target areas, including the areas covered in the following publications:

Selected Publications

  1. A Suite of TMPRSS2 Assays for Screening Drug Repurposing Candidates as Potential Treatments of COVID-19
  2. An Enzymatic TMPRSS2 Assay for Assessment of Clinical Candidates and Discovery of Inhibitors as Potential Treatment of COVID-19
  3. An OpenData Portal to Share COVID-19 Drug Repurposing Data in Real Time
  4. The AKT Modulator A-443654 Reduces α-synuclein Expression and Normalizes ER Stress and Autophagy
  5. KDM5 Histone Demethylase Activity Links Cellular Transcriptomic Heterogeneity to Therapeutic Resistance