Dr. Darci Jones Trader, Associate Professor, Joins UCI School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty

Dr. Darci Jones Trader has joined the UC Irvine School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences as an associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, bringing with her research opportunities through the Trader lab.

“The Trader lab is focused on the discovery of small molecules to monitor and perturb the activity of the proteasome,” she explained. “We also have a focus on the development of small molecule degraders for a variety of protein targets and methods to activate an immune system response by targeting the immunoproteasome. Trainees for these projects will learn about chemical biology, organic synthesis, and medicinal chemistry.”

An Illinois native, Dr. Trader graduated with her BS and MS in Chemistry at Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville before earning her PhD from Indiana University in 2013. Following this, she completed postdoctoral research at The Scripps Research Institute. She started her independent research career in Purdue University’s Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, where her lab published 20+ papers and graduated six PhD students.

She moved the Trader lab to UCI due to the university’s acclaimed biomedical sciences research and the resources that such an environment can offer.

“UCI will provide my lab the opportunity to transition our molecules for testing in vivo models, with the long-term goal of accomplishing a clinical trial,” she stated.

For graduate students and postdocs interested in the research conducted in the Trader lab, the team is recruiting new members.

“We are looking forward to new collaborations with UCI researchers focused on studying neurological diseases associated with protein accumulation, hematological cancers, and those studying the adaptive immune system,” Dr. Trader shared. “The opportunity to join the faculty and help mold future medicinal chemistry researchers and pharmacists in the new School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences is very exciting.”