Biography

Sandeep Rana is a research scientist in the Early Translation Branch within NCATS’ Division of Preclinical Innovation. His research focuses on developing novel and selective probes to investigate biological processes and optimizing them to become potential drug candidates to treat rare and neglected targets. Furthermore, he is exploring proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC)–based therapeutic modality across various oncology projects. These chemical probes will be further used to explore and comprehend the role of disease-relevant proteins, such as developing novel methotrexate-based PROTACs to understand complex polypharmacology associated with methotrexate.

Before joining NCATS in 2019, Rana worked as a research assistant professor at the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. His research primarily focused on the discovery and development of reversible and irreversible small-molecule inhibitors to perturb disease-relevant biomolecules. In parallel, Rana reported the first selective degrader of CDK9 by utilizing a PROTAC-based degradation strategy.

Rana received his Ph.D. training in organic and medicinal chemistry under the supervision of Professor Duy H. Hua at Kansas State University, where he worked on the development of small-molecule probes against Alzheimer’s disease. After receiving his doctorate, Rana joined the Mayo Clinic as a research fellow in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. He has authored more than 45 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Research Topics

Rana’s research is focused on the design, synthesis and development of modulating proteins that are often dysregulated across multiple conditions, such as cancer (e.g., breast, ovarian, colorectal, pancreatic) and neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s).