Plamen Christov, Ph.D.

Plamen Christov (Director; Drug Discovery Scientist, Senior) earned his PhD in Chemistry at Vanderbilt University . As a graduate student he worked on the synthesis of phosphoramidites for site-specific synthesis of various N5-alkyl-Fapy-dGuo oligonucleotides that result from genotoxic substances including chemotheraputic agents. He also worked on the bypass and incision of N5-alkyl-Fapy-dGuo lesions by DNA polymerases and DNA glycosylases, respectively. His research involved the use of Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS3) to identify and quantify small molecules in complex mixtures, including the development of a very sensitive LC-ESI-MS/MS method for sequencing and quantitating the replication bypass products of N5-alkyl-Fapy-dGuo lesions. Dr. Christov joined the MDSC in 2011, where he has specialized in contributions to medicinal chemistry projects, including the chemical Biology Consortium (CBC) projects Taspase-1, LDHA, WDR5, MCL-1 and Beta-catenin/WntWan projects. In collaboration with the VUIIS, Dr. Christov developed four synthetic protocols and operations (SOP) to support the chemical cGMP synthesis of small molecule PET imaging agents for phase zero (first-in-man) clinical studies. Another area of expertise of Dr. Christov is the synthesis of STING agonists; he synthesized chemically 2’,3’cGAMP and 2’,3’-cGAM(PS)2(Rp/Sp) in grams quantities. Dr. Christov has co-authored 50 peer-reviewed manuscripts and is a listed as co-inventor on 6 published patent applications.