BS Molecular Biology University Honors- Brigham Young University, April 2020
Shaping Hearts: Opioids and Congenital Heart Disease
LInkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zak-webber/
Pubmed: Pubmed
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6409-0437
I grew up in Payson, Utah. Following a two-year ecclesiastic mission in Spain I attended Brigham Young University-Provo where I attained my B.S. in Molecuar Biology. My honors thesis was a collabrotive work with students in Chinle to investigate the ability of sunflowers to remove uranium from pooled groundwater.(1,2). I also participated in Dr. Marc Hansen's (PhD) laboratory where we validated a new synthesis technique for JAK1 JH2 pseudokinase inhibitors (3). I gained experience in tissue culture, luciferase assays, and drug discovery which I used following graduation as a high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technician for Recursion Pharmaceuticals, and gained experience working in industry.
For my PhD training I worked in the Largent-Milnes/Vanderah lab and was supported by wonderful collaborators: Dr. Jonathon HIll at Brigham Young University, and Dr. Aitor Aguirre at Michigan State University. My thesis investigated the effects of intrauterine opioid exposures on cardiac development. I tested my hypotheses using patient databases (4), retrospective patient data, human cardiac organoids, and Zebrafish embryos. I discovered that opioids are associated with altered cardiac differentiation in developmental models and increased conotruncal CHDs.
Outside of studies, I love getting outdoors, spending time with my wife, and socializing with the MD-PhD family.
College Undergraduate Research Award 2019, 2020, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
Undergraduate Mentored Learning Scholar 2019, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
Hearts & Hands Award, 2019, Utah Philanthropy Day, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Yamamurah Travel Grant- Spring 2024, Department of Pharmacology, Tucson, Arizona.
Graduate & Professional Student Council Travel Grant- Spring 2025, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.
American Society Adiction Medicine Conference Scholarship, Department of Psychiatry, Tucaon, Arizona.
Patel, S.B., Webber, Z., Strah, D.D., Hellinger, R.D., Yrun-Duffy, M., Kowalek, K.A., and Seckeler, M.D. (2023). Acute Hospital Outcomes for Renal Transplantation in Patients With Moderate or Severe Congenital Heart Disease. The American Journal of Cardiology 186, 87-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjcard.2022.10.034
Seckeler, M.D., Webber, Z. & Fox, K.A. Using 3D Printed Heart Models for Surgical and Catheterization Planning in Congenital Heart Disease. Curr Treat Options Peds (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40746-022-00238-x
Webber, Z. R., Webber, K. G. I., Rock, T., St. Clair, I., Thompson, C., Groenwald, S., Aanderud, Z., Carling, G. T., Frei, R. J., & Abbott, B. W. (2021). Diné citizen science: Phytoremediation of uranium and arsenic in the Navajo Nation. Science of The Total Environment, 794, 148665. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148665
Singleton, J. D., Dass, R., Neubert, N. R., Smith, R. M., Webber, Z., Hansen, M. D. H., & Peterson, M. A. (2020). Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines: Discovery of a selective inhibitor of JAK1 JH2 pseudokinase and VPS34. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 30(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bmcl.2019.126813
“Higher Incidence of Moderate and Severe Congenital Heart Disease in Patients with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome” Neonatal Network: NOWS Special Issue. Webber, Largent-Milnes, Seckeler (Accepted Jan 9, 2025)