Jennifer R. Cochran

Honors and Awards

• Martin D. Abeloff Scholar Award, V Foundation (2008)
• Hellman Faculty Scholar Award, Hellman Foundation (2008)
• McCormick Award, McCormick Foundation (2007)
• Mallinckrodt Faculty Scholar Award, Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Foundation (2007)
• Kimmel Scholars Award, Sidney Kimmel Foundation (2007)

Professional Education

Postdoctoral Advisees

Niv Papo

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

• Biophysics
• Cancer Biology
• Bioengineering

Web Site Links

• Cochran Lab website

Research Interests

The Cochran laboratory uses interdisciplinary approaches in chemistry, engineering, and biophysics to study complex biological systems. Our main goals are to develop new technologies for basic science and biomedical applications. Clinical applications of our research involve bone and wound healing, biomimetic corneas, neural cell regeneration, and cancer imaging and therapy. Our research is driven by the philosophy that in order to control physiological processes it is necessary to understand the molecular mechanisms that drive these processes. We are interested in elucidating molecular details of receptor-mediated cell signaling events; at the same time developing protein and polymer-based tools that will allow us to manipulate cellular processes on a molecular level. For biomedical applications, we are combining rational design and combinatorial methods to create designer protein therapeutics and diagnostic agents. One such example is highlighted in a recent press release: http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2006/may24/cochran-052406.html.

Publications

• Engineered knottin peptides: a new class of agents for imaging integrin expression in living subjects. Kimura RH, Cheng Z, Gambhir SS, Cochran JR. Cancer Res. 2009; 69 (6): 2435-42
• Engineered cystine-knot peptides that bind alpha(v)beta(3) integrin with antibody-like affinities. Silverman AP, Levin AM, Lahti JL, Cochran JR. J Mol Biol. 2009; 385 (4): 1064-75
• Antibodies specifically targeting a locally misfolded region of tumor associated EGFR. Garrett TP, Burgess AW, Gan HK, Luwor RB, Cartwright G, Walker F, Orchard SG, Clayton AH, Nice EC, Rothacker J, Catimel B, Cavenee WK, Old LJ, Stockert E, Ritter G, Adams TE, Hoyne PA, Wittrup D, Chao G, Cochran JR, Luo C, Lou M, Huyton T, Xu Y, Fairlie WD, Yao S, Scott AM, Johns TG. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009; 106 (13): 5082-7
• Interrogating and predicting tolerated sequence diversity in protein folds: application to E. elaterium trypsin inhibitor-II cystine-knot miniprotein. Lahti JL, Silverman AP, Cochran JR. PLoS Comput Biol. 2009; 5 (9): e1000499
• Developing therapeutic proteins by engineering ligand-receptor interactions. Jones DS, Silverman AP, Cochran JR. Trends Biotechnol. 2008; 26 (9): 498-505