Matthew Volgraf
Senior Scientist, Discovery Chemistry
"I’m motivated by the opportunity to work with talented colleagues on the toughest scientific problems."
11
Years at Genentech
15
Publications
4
Awards & Honors
I joined Genentech in 2010 after completing my PhD at UC Berkeley with Prof. Dirk Trauner, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center with Prof. David Gin. My academic background in chemical biology and natural product total synthesis prepared me for the collaborative, multi-disciplinary team environment which is central to Genentech’s culture.
Featured Publication
Discovery of GluN2A-Selective NMDA Receptor Positive Allosteric Modulators (PAMs): Tuning Deactivation Kinetics via Structure-Based Design.
J Med Chem. 2016 Mar 24;59(6):2760-79.
Volgraf M, Sellers BD, Jiang Y, Wu G, Ly CQ, Villemure E, Pastor RM, Yuen PW1, Lu A, Luo X, Liu M, Zhang S, Sun L, Fu Y, Lupardus PJ, Wallweber HJ, Liederer BM, Deshmukh G, Plise E, Tay S, Reynen P, Herrington J, Gustafson A, Liu Y, Dirksen A, Dietz MG, Liu Y, Wang TM, Hanson JE, Hackos D, Scearce-Levie K, Schwarz JB.
My Focus
My current role in the Discovery Chemistry department has been focused on developing small molecule drugs targeting ion channels within the neuroscience and immunology therapeutic areas. I am interested in studying the principles of drug design targeting membrane-bound enzymes and receptors, together with the physicochemical rules governing blood-brain barrier penetration.
Publications
Tetrahydrofuran-Based Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) Antagonists: Ligand-Based Discovery, Activity in a Rodent Asthma Model, and Mechanism-of-Action via Cryogenic Electron Microscopy
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry,
Jack A. Terrett; Huifen Chen; Daniel Shore; Elisia Villemure; Larouche-Gauthier; Martin Déry; Francis Beaumier; Léa Constantineau-Forget; Chantal Grand-Maître; Luce Lépissier; Stéphane Ciblat; Claudio Sturino; Yong Chen; Baihua Hu; Aijun Lu; Yunli Wang; Andrew P. Cridland; Stuart I. Ward; David Hackos; Rebecca M. Reese; Shannon Shields; Jun Chen; Alessia Balestrini; Lorena Riol Blanco; Wyne P. Lee; John Liu; Eric Suto; Xiumin Wu; Juan Zhang; Justin Q. Ly; Hank La; Kevin Johnson; Matt Baumgardner; Kang-Jye Chou; Alexis Rohou; Lionel Rouge; Brian Safina; Steven Magnuson; Matthew Volgraf
Journal of Experimental Medicine, ISSN: 15409538 00221007
Alessia Balestrini; Victory Joseph; Michelle Dourado; Rebecca M. Reese; Shannon Shields; Lionel Rouge; Daniel D. Bravo; Tania Chernov-Rogan; Cary Austin; Huifen Chen; Lan Wang; Elisia Villemure; Daniel Shore; Vishal Verma; Baihua Hu; Yong Chen; Laurie Leong; Chris Bjornson; Kathy Hotzel; Alvin Gogineni; Wyne P. Lee; Eric Suto; Xiumin Wu; John Liu; Juan Zhang; Vineela Gandham; Jianyong Wang; Jian Payandeh; Claudio Ciferri; Alberto Estevez; Chris Arthur; Jens Kortmann; Ryan L. Wong; Jose E. Heredia; Jonas Martin Doerr; Min Jung; Jason A. Vander Heiden; Meron Roose-Girma; Lucinda Tam; Kai Barck; Rick Carano; Han Ting Ding; Bobby Brillantes; Christine Tam; Xiaoying Yang; Simon S. Gao; Justin Q. Ly; Liling Liu; Liuxi Chen; Bianca Liederer; Joseph Lin; Steven Magnuson; Jun Chen; David Hackos; Justin Elstrott; Alexis Rohou; Brian Safina; Matthew Volgraf; Rebecca N. Bauer; Lorena Riol Blanco
Cell Reports, ISSN: 22111247
Jesse E. Hanson; Keran Ma; Justin Elstrott; Martin Weber; Sandrine Saillet; Abdullah S. Khan; Jeffrey Simms; Benjamin Liu; Thomas A. Kim; Gui-Qiu Yu; Yelin Chen; Tzu-Ming Wang; Zhiyu Jiang; Bianca Liederer; Gauri Deshmukh; Hilda Solanoy; Connie Chan; Ben Sellers; Matthew Volgraf; Jacob Schwarz; David Hackos; Robby Weimer; Morgan Sheng; T. Michael Gill; Kimberly Scearce-Levie; Jorge J. Palop
A Non-covalent Ligand Reveals Biased Agonism of the TRPA1 Ion Channel
Neuron, ISSN: 08966273
Chang Liu; Rebecca M. Reese; Simon Vu; Lionel Rouge; Shannon Shields; Satoko Kakiuchi-Kiyota; Huifen Chen; Kevin Johnson; Yu Patrick Shi; Tania Chernov-Rogan; Demi Maria Zabala Greiner; Pawan Bir Kohli; David Hackos; Bobby Brillantes; Christine Tam; Tianbo Li; Jianyong Wang; Brian Safina; Steven Magnuson; Matthew Volgraf; Jian Payandeh; Jie Zheng; Alexis Rohou; Jun Chen
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, ISSN: 10916490 00278424
Tania Chernov-Rogan; Eleonora Gianti; Chang Liu; Elisia Villemure; Andrew P. Cridland; Xiaoyu Hu; Elisa Ballini; Wienke Lange; Heike Deisemann; Tianbo Li; Stuart I. Ward; David Hackos; Steven Magnuson; Brian Safina; Michael L. Klein; Matthew Volgraf; Vincenzo Carnevale; Jun Chen
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, ISSN: 15204804 00222623
Huifen Chen; Matthew Volgraf; Steven Do; Aleksandr Kolesnikov; Daniel Shore; Vishal Verma; Elisia Villemure; Lan Wang; Yong Chen; Baihua Hu; Aijun Lu; Guosheng Wu; Xiaofeng Xu; Po-Wai Yuen; Yamin Zhang; Shawn D. Erickson; Martin Dahl; Christine Brotherton-Pleiss; Suzanne Brown; Justin Ly; Lesley Murray; Jun Chen; Desiree Amm; Wienke Lange; David Hackos; Rebecca M. Reese; Shannon Shields; Joe Lyssikatos; Brian Safina; Tony Estrada
Neuropharmacology, ISSN: 18737064
Tzu-Ming Wang; Brandon M. Brown; Lunbin Deng; Ben Sellers; Patrick Lupardus; Heidi Ackerly Wallweber; Amy Gustafson; Evera Wong; Matthew Volgraf; Jacob Schwarz; David Hackos; Jesse Hanson
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, ISSN: 15204804
Gina Wang; Aleksandr Kolesnikov; Suzanne Brown; Grace Chan; Qi Chao; Steven Do; Jake Drummond; Allen Ebens; Ning Liu; Justin Ly; Eric Harstad; Huiyong Hu; John Moffat; Veerendra Munugalavadla; Jeremy Murray; Dion Slaga; Vickie Tsui; Matthew Volgraf; Heidi Ackerly Wallweber; Jae Chang
ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, ISSN: 19485875
Elisia Villemure; Matthew Volgraf; Yu Jiang; Guosheng Wu; Cuong Ly; Po-Wai Yuen; Aijun Lu; Xifeng Luo; Mingcui Liu; Shun Zhang; Patrick Lupardus; Heidi Ackerly Wallweber; Bianca Liederer; Gauri Deshmukh; Emile Plise; Suzanne Brown; Tzu-Ming Wang; Jesse Hanson; David Hackos; Kimberly Scearce-Levie; Jacob Schwarz; Ben Sellers
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, ISSN: 15204804
Matthew Volgraf; Ben Sellers; Yu Jiang; Guosheng Wu; Cuong Ly; Elisia Villemure; Rich Pastor; Po-Wai Yuen; Aijun Lu; Xifeng Luo; Mingcui Liu; Shun Zhang; Liang Sun; Yuhong Fu; Patrick Lupardus; Heidi Ackerly Wallweber; Bianca Liederer; Gauri Deshmukh; Emile Plise; Suzanne Brown; Paul Reynen; James Herrington; Amy Gustafson; Yichin Liu; Akim Dirksen; Matthias G. A. Dietz; Yanzhou Liu; Tzu-Ming Wang; Jesse Hanson; David Hackos; Kimberly Scearce-Levie; Jacob Schwarz
Neuron, ISSN: 10974199
David Hackos; Patrick Lupardus; Teddy Grand; Yelin Chen; Tzu-Ming Wang; Paul Reynen; Amy Gustafson; Heidi Ackerly Wallweber; Matthew Volgraf; Ben Sellers; Jacob Schwarz; Pierre Paoletti; Morgan Sheng; Qiang Zhou; Jesse Hanson
Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, ISSN: 14643405
Matthew Volgraf; Lina Chan; Malcolm Huestis; Hans Purkey; Michael Burkard; Mary K. Geck Do; Julie Harris; Kevin W. Hunt; Xingrong Liu; Joe Lyssikatos; Sumeet Rana; Allen A. Thomas; Guy Vigers; Mike Siu
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, ISSN: 15204804
Allen A. Thomas; Kevin W. Hunt; Matthew Volgraf; Ryan Watts; Xingrong Liu; Guy Vigers; Darin Smith; Douglas Sammond; Tony P. Tang; Susan P. Rhodes; Andrew T. Metcalf; Karin D. Brown; Jennifer N. Otten; Michael Burkard; April Cox; Mary K. Geck Do; Darrin Dutcher; Sumeet Rana; Robert K. Delisle; Kelly Regal; Albion D. Wright; Robert Groneberg; Kimberly Scearce-Levie; Mike Siu; Hans Purkey; Joe Lyssikatos; Indrani W. Gunawardana
Tetrahedron Letters, ISSN: 00404039
Malcolm Huestis; Wendy Liu; Matthew Volgraf; Hans Purkey; Christine Yu; Weiru Wang; Darin Smith; Guy Vigers; Darrin Dutcher; Kevin W. Hunt; Mike Siu
Molecular Switches, Second Edition,
Matthew Volgraf; Matthew Banghart; Dirk Trauner
Education
- University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D in Chemistry – 2008
- University of Pennsylvania, B.A. in Chemistry – 2003
Awards & Honors
- ACS Medicinal Chemistry Division Young Investigator Symposium, Speaker – 2016
- American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow – 2008-2010
- Roche Excellence in Chemistry Award – 2007
- ACS Medicinal Chemistry Division Predoctoral Fellowship – 2006