Rachel C. Steinhardt
Assistant Professor
Chemistry
Biotechnology
3-008 Center for Science and Technology
315.443.2127
Research Interests
Organic Synthesis, Soft Materials, Medicinal Chemistry, Chemical Biology
Education
B.S., 2005, University of California, Berkeley
M.S., 2010, University of California, Santa Cruz
Ph.D., 2015, University of California, Irvine
Postdoctoral Researcher, 2018, University of Chicago
Honors and Awards
ACS Cottrell New Faculty Workshop, 2018
ASBMB Image Workshop, 2018
PMSE (Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering Division) Session Co-Chair, ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2017
UC Berkeley Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program Fellowship, 2003
Courses
CHE 600: Chemical Biology
CHE 414/614: Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry
Research Focus
The Steinhardt lab focuses on synthesizing chemical tools to elucidate, manipulate, and image the interactions between organ systems–such as the nervous and immune systems–to pioneer new medical treatment strategies. Using technology like synthetically-tuned natural products, smart biocompatible polymers, and luminescent soft materials, we work to bridge the gap between molecular understanding of cellular function and mechanistic understanding of how individual organs work together to create a living being. This research relies on fundamental studies of physical organic, synthetic, and materials chemistry, and applies that knowledge to manipulating cells and tissues to fix disordered interactions that occur in disease.
Publications
Yao, Z.; Zhang, B. S.; Steinhardt, R. C.; Mills, J. H.; Prescher, J. A. Multicomponent bioluminescence imaging with an extended pi-luciferin. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2020, 142, 14080. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c01064
Moser, B. A.; Escalante-Buendia, Y; Steinhardt, R. C.; Rosenberger, M. Cassaidy, B.; Naorem, N. Chon, A. C.; Nguyen, M.; Tran, N.; Esser-Kahn, A. P. Small Molecule NF-kB Inhibitors as Immune Potentiators for Enhancement of Vaccine Adjuvants. ChemRxiv https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv.10043138.v1
Wu. M.; Moser, B. A.; Steeves, T. M.; Figueroa, A.; Wallace, B. M.; Kim, S. T.; Esser-Kahn, A. P.; Steinhardt, R. C. Photon upconversion for the enhancement of microfluidic photochemical synthesis. RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 26172–26175. https://doi.org/10.1039/C9RA03468D
Kimani, F.; Kim, S. -M.; Steinhardt, R. C.; Esser-Kahn, A. P. Correlating the Structure and Reactivity of a Contact Allergen, DNCB, and its Analogs to Sensitization Potential. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett., 2019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bmc.2019.05.017
Moser, B. A.; Steinhardt, R. C.; Escalante-Buendia, Y.; Bolt, D. A.; Barker, K. M.; Yoo, S.; McGonnigal, B. G.; Esser-Kahn, A. P. Immune potentietor for increased safety and improved protection of vaccines by NF-kB. bioRxiv DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/489732
Tom, J. K.; Albin, T. J.; Manna, S.; Moser, B. A.; Steinhardt, R. C.; Esser-Kahn, A. P. Applications of Immunomodulatory Immune Synergies to Adjuvant Discovery and Vaccine Development. Trends Biotechnol., 2019, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2018.10.004
Brubaker, K., Garewal, A., Steinhardt, R.C. et al. Bio-inspired counter-current multiplier for enrichment of solutes. Nat Commun 9, 736 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03052-y
Steinhardt, R. C.; Hiew, S.; Mohapatra, H.; Nguyen, D.; Oh, Z.; Truong, R.; Esser-Kahn, A. P. Cooperative CO2 binding by a bifunctional guanidine and bifunctional alcohol. ACS Cent. Sci. 2017, 3, 1271-1275. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscentsci.7b00418
Steinhardt, R. C.‡; Steeves, T. S.‡; Wallace, B. M.; Moser, B.; Fishman, D. A.; Esser-Kahn, A. P. Photothermal nanoparticle initiation enables radical polymerization and yields unique, uniform microfibers with broad spectrum light. 2017, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2017, 44, 39034-39039. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b12230
Steinhardt, R. C.; Rathbun, C. M.; McCutcheon, D. C.; Krull, B.; Porterfield, W. B.; Furche, F.; Prescher, J. A. Brominated luciferins are versatile bioluminescent probes. ChemBioChem 2017, 18, 96–100. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbic.201600564
Moser, B. A.; ‡ Steinhardt, R. C.‡; Esser-Kahn, A. P. Surface coating of nanoparticles reduces background inflammatory activity while increasing particle uptake and delivery. ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng. 2016, 3, 206–213. DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6b00473 ‡ denotes equal contribution
Steinhardt, R. C.; O’Neill, J. A.; McCutcheon, D. C; Rathbun, C. M.; Prescher, J. A. Design and synthesis of an alkynyl luciferin analogue for bioluminescence imaging. Chem. Eur. J. 2016, 22, 3671–3675. doi: 10.1002/chem.201503944
McCutcheon, D. C.; Paley, M. A.; Steinhardt, R. C.; Prescher, J. A. Expedient synthesis of electronically-modified luciferins for bioluminescence imaging. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 7604-7607. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja301493d
Hirschi, A.; Cecchini, M.; Steinhardt, R. C.; Schamber, M. R.; Dick, F. A.; Rubin, S. M. An overlapping kinase and phosphatase docking site regulates activity of the Retinoblastoma protein. Nature Struct. Mol. Biol. 2010, 17, 1051-1057. DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.1868
Halpenny, G. M.; Steinhardt, R. C.; Okialda, K. A.; Mascharak, P. K. Characterization of pHEMA-based hydrogels that exhibit light-induced bactericidal effect via release of NO. J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Med. 2009, 20, 2353-2360. DOI:10.1007/s10856-009-3795-0
Mizisin, A. P.; Steinhardt, R. C.; O’Brien, J. S.; Calcutt, N. A. TX14(A), a prosaposin-derived peptide, reverses established nerve disorders in streptozotocin-diabetic rats and prevents them in galactose-fed rats. J. Neuropath. Exp. Neurol. 2001, 60, 953-960. https://doi.org/10.1093/jnen/60.10.953