AnaBios is pleased to announce that Dr. Kristine Griffett, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at Auburn University, is the winner of our third annual Translational Research Grant Award. Dr. Griffett will obtain up to $15,000 in AnaBios’ high-quality human hepatocytes to validate her team’s pre-clinical data on liver toxicity, gene regulation and metabolic health.
Dr. Griffett’s research focus on discovering novel therapies for NAFLD, NASH and metabolic disease (targeting LXRs, REV-ERBs, FXR, PPAR). Her lab and others have shown that REV-ERB agonist SR9009 alleviates clinical characteristics of NASH (such as inflammation, fibrosis and fat) in pre-clinical models. Further, roles of REV-ERB have also been explored in obesity, and senescence-associated diseases using SR9009. Her lab is currently using STL1267, a high affinity non-porphyrin synthetic agonist to REV-ERB with improved binding and reduced toxicity. Their work has demonstrated that STL1267 administration in pre-clinical mouse models of NASH can alleviate inflammation and fibrosis, as well as improve overall metabolism.
Dr. Griffett joined the faculty at Auburn University in 2022. She received her B.S. in Biology from St. Joseph’s College in New York and later recevied her M.S. in Biology degree from the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University. She later earned her Ph.D. in Development Genetics from the University of South Florida, where she worked with zebrafish to uncover genomic regions leading to instability, increased somatic mutations and cancer.
After graduating, she accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, FL under the mentorship of Dr. Thomas Burris in molecular therapeutics and nuclear receptor pharmacology. The lab moved to Saint Louis University School of Medicine (SLUSOM), where she was awarded an NIH NURSA F32 award for her work with liver X receptors (LXR) and fatty liver diseases.
Dr. Griffett became a research assistant professor at SLUSOM and was awarded an American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant on her work with LXRs and cholesterol. She transitioned to a non-tenure track position within the Center for Clinical Pharmacology at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy.
She has a certification in Clinical Pharmacology from the NIH that was completed in 2018. Dr. Griffett’s research interests focus on discovering novel therapies for NAFLD, NASH, and Metabolic Disease (targeting LXRs, REV-ERBs, FXR, PPAR).
