Zak Webber

LInkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zak-webber/

Pubmed: Pubmed

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6409-0437

I grew up in Payson, Utah and love small-town life. Following a two-year ecclesiastic mission in Spain, I attended Brigham Young University and graduated with a degree in molecular biology. My honors thesis investigated the ability of common sunflowers to remove uranium from pooled groundwater in the Navajo Nation. Through this project I was able to collaborate with high school students in Chinle, Arizona. (1,2). I simaltaneously participated in Marc Hansen's (PhD) laboratory and helped to validate a new synthesis technique and identify a novel JAK1 JH2 pseudokinase inhibitor (3). I gained experience in tissue culture, luciferase assays, and drug discovery. Following graduation, I worked as a high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technician for Recursion Pharmaceuticals, and gained experience working with industry state-of-the-art technologies as the company made their initial public offering. I love research and medicine and am undecided on a medical specialitiy. 

My current project focuses on the effects of intrauterine opioid exposures on cardiac development. With an increase of opioid use by pregnant women in the United States, there is evidence that offspring may have greater risk of certain malformations of the heart. I am testing my hypotheses using patient databases, human organoids, and Zebrafish embryos. I hope to determine the mechanism by which these changes take place while gaining greater understanding of environmental mechanisms that contribute to congenital heart disease (CHD). Ultimately, this will help physcians and patients counsel about potential risks of interventions and behaviors, and help us understand environmental triggers of CHD.

Outside of studies, I love getting outdoors, spending time with my wife, and socializing with the MD-PhD family.