Mr. Taylor J Fiolek

Taylor has 6 years of experience working on organic synthesis of a variety of molecules over the course of his BS, MS and PhD. During his MS, he worked to synthesize and test novel bioorthogonal chemical reporters for probing the mycomembrane of mycobacteria. He published one first author paper and three other papers during this time. In his PhD, Taylor has branched out into the field of drug discovery in Professor Tepe's lab. We are focused on 20S proteasome enhancement by small molecules, to target the toxic signaling of over-expressed intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) in neurodegenerative disorders. Taylor has published two first author papers while in the Tepe lab. One in collaboration with Dr. Mosey's lab at Lake Superior State University, where he explored the 20S activity of dihydroquinazoline analogs. The second focused on the exploration of the neuroleptic agent Fluspirilene as a 20S activator and a means by which to overcome inhibition of the 20S by IDP oligomers.