WFUWake Forest University · Biochemistry
Lowther Lab
W Todd Lowther · Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Research Focus
Dr. W Todd Lowther's lab at Wake Forest University focuses on understanding how certain compounds in our diet contribute to kidney problems, especially in patients with primary hyperoxaluria. The lab is working on developing new drugs that can block the breakdown of hydroxyproline, a component of collagen, which can lead to the production of harmful oxalates and kidney stones. Their innovative approach combines laboratory experiments with computational techniques to design effective treatments and explore how these new drugs work at a molecular level.
primary hyperoxaluriahydroxyprolineoxalatedrug developmentenzymeskidney healthcollagen metabolismhigh throughput screening
Research Aims
4AIM 01Design and synthesize novel compounds to inhibit hydroxyproline dehydrogenase.
AIM 02Evaluate the biochemical and cellular impacts of HYPDH inhibitors.
AIM 03Use computational methods to understand the interaction of inhibitors with the target enzyme.
AIM 04Test the effectiveness of these inhibitors in various mouse models of primary hyperoxaluria.
Skills the Lab Values
Biochemical assaysCell cultureMouse modelsStructural biologyComputational chemistryCompound synthesisHigh throughput screeningPharmaceutical chemistryData analysis
Output against the department
Publications83bottom 17% of dept.331st of 402
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations4.8kbottom 27% of dept.292nd of 402
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.