Chemist Ohata Receives NIH MIRA Award

Jun Ohata, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at NC State, has received the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) (R35) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). The goal of this award is to increase the efficiency of NIGMS funding by providing investigators with greater stability and flexibility, thereby enhancing scientific productivity and the chances for important breakthroughs.

The five-year award will support Ohata’s research project entitled “Labeling Strategies using Biomolecule-compatible, Nonaqueous Media.” The project will pursue fundamental research on selective chemical reactions on natural proteins.

Chemical labeling of proteins can create chemically modified proteins or bioconjugates that are useful for therapeutic applications including cancer treatment by antibody–drug conjugates. Although selective chemical reactions of proteins (i.e., protein bioconjugation) are essential for the labeling process and often performed in water, chemical reactions in water are challenging from the organic chemistry point of view. Despite the well-known challenge, there has been a significant lack of research programs developing novel reaction media that are beneficial for both accelerating the organic chemistry reactions and retaining activities of biomolecules. The proposed research program will tackle the long-standing issues of realization of efficient, selective bioconjugation reactions by protein-compatible nonaqueous solvents.

Ohata received his B.S. in 2011 and his M.S. in 2013 from Osaka Prefecture University, and his Ph.D. in 2018 in Zachary Ball’s group at Rice University studying transition metal-mediated protein bioconjugation (utilization of metal catalysis). Ohata joined the NC State faculty in 2020.