Kelly Manthei, PhD is the Molecular Pharmacology Highlighted Trainee Author for the October 2024 issue. Dr. Manthei is a Research Development Officer in the Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of Michigan.

The MolPharm article that earned her the selection as a Highlighted Trainee Author is titled “Rescue of Familial Lecithin: Cholesterol Acyltranferase Deficiency Mutations with an Allosteric Activator” and is available at https://doi.org/10.1124/molpharm.124.000932.

In addition to her work helping to secure funding for other researchers, Dr. Manthei’s own research on familial lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) deficiency (FLD) focuses on specific mutations responsible for this rare genetic disorder, which often lacks therapeutic attention. Using prior structural studies of LCAT, she and her team demonstrated that the activity of certain FLD mutations can be restored by a small molecule activator. Although this activator is not approved for treatment, the findings highlight the potential for using personalized medicine and pharmacogenomics to develop targeted therapies for FLD.