Zach Waldrip, PhD
Instructor
Department of Surgery
Personal Statement
Zach is a molecular biologist by training with a broad interest in biomedical research. As a graduate student, he studied chromatin biology using yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) as a model system. As a postdoc, Zach gained experience with mouse and pig models as well as cell culture studying the mechanisms of T cell activation in the context of the protein kinase DNA-PKcs. In 2022 Zach graduated from the TL1 trainee program in Health Sciences Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UAMS. This experience expanded his mindset as a translational scientist to understand the potential of putting research into practice through commercialization. Zach is excited to extend his biomedical research experience in the Kollisch laboratory studying translational models of lung injury and inflammation to better understand how outcomes can be improved for patients with various complications such as sepsis. Zach will be concurrently continuing an exciting secondary project to study the feasibility of developing genetically modified live biotherapeutic products to treat gastrointestinal infections.
“Joy is up to you-take it and fly.” - Destiny 2
Selected Articles
1. Waldrip ZJ, Acharya B, Armstrong D, Hanafi M, Rainwater RR, Amole S, Fulmer M, Azevedo-Pouly AC, Burns A, Burdine L, Frett B, Burdine MS. Discovery of the DNA-PKcs inhibitor DA-143 which exhibits enhanced solubility relative to NU7441. Sci Rep. 2024 Aug 28;14(1):19999. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-70858-w. PubMed PMID: 39198533; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11358143.
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2. Azevedo-Pouly AC, Appell LE, Burdine L, Rogers LJ, Morehead LC, Fil D, Barker M, Rainwater RR, Waldrip ZJ, Koss B, Burdine MS. Chemical inhibition of DNA-PKcs impairs the activation and cytotoxicity of CD4(+) helper and CD8(+) effector T cells. Immunol Cell Biol. 2023 Aug;101(7):663-671. doi: 10.1111/imcb.12651. Epub 2023 May 6. PubMed PMID: 37149747; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10527493.
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​3. Waldrip ZJ, Burdine L, Harrison DK, Azevedo-Pouly AC, Storey AJ, Moffett OG, Mackintosh SG, Burdine MS. DNA-PKcs kinase activity stabilizes the transcription factor Egr1 in activated immune cells. J Biol Chem. 2021 Oct;297(4):101209. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.101209. Epub 2021 Sep 23. PubMed PMID: 34562454; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8551498.
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4. Harrison DK, Waldrip ZJ, Burdine L, Shalin SC, Burdine MS. DNA-PKcs Inhibition Extends Allogeneic Skin Graft Survival. Transplantation. 2021 Mar 1;105(3):540-549. doi: 10.1097/TP.0000000000003442. PubMed PMID: 32890138; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7902289.
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5. Waldrip ZJ, Jenjaroenpun P, DeYoung O, Nookaew I, Taverna SD, Raney KD, Tackett AJ. Genome-wide Cas9 binding specificity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. PeerJ. 2020;8:e9442. doi: 10.7717/peerj.9442. eCollection 2020. PubMed PMID: 32821531; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7395602.
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6. Gao J, Byrd AK, Zybailov BL, Marecki JC, Guderyon MJ, Edwards AD, Chib S, West KL, Waldrip ZJ, Mackintosh SG, Gao Z, Putnam AA, Jankowsky E, Raney KD. DEAD-box RNA helicases Dbp2, Ded1 and Mss116 bind to G-quadruplex nucleic acids and destabilize G-quadruplex RNA. Chem Commun (Camb). 2019 Apr 11;55(31):4467-4470. doi: 10.1039/c8cc10091h. PubMed PMID: 30855040; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6459694.
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7. Waldrip ZJ, Byrum SD, Storey AJ, Gao J, Byrd AK, Mackintosh SG, Wahls WP, Taverna SD, Raney KD, Tackett AJ. A CRISPR-based approach for proteomic analysis of a single genomic locus. Epigenetics. 2014 Sep;9(9):1207-11. doi: 10.4161/epi.29919. Epub 2014 Jul 18. PubMed PMID: 25147920; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4169012.
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8. Goodwin TE, Broederdorf LJ, Burkert BA, Hirwa IH, Mark DB, Waldrip ZJ, Kopper RA, Sutherland MV, Freeman EW, Hollister-Smith JA, Schulte BA. Chemical signals of elephant musth: temporal aspects of microbially-mediated modifications. J Chem Ecol. 2012 Jan;38(1):81-7. doi: 10.1007/s10886-011-0056-8. Epub 2012 Jan 13. PubMed PMID: 22246519.