Thomas Menees

Background

About Thomas Menees

Basic Life Science Researcher and Translational Researcher in Early-Stage Drug Development. My basic life science research is on the molecular biology of the retroviral host factor Dbr1, the RNA lariat debranching enzyme, which is required for reverse transcription of the HIV-1 genomic RNA into DNA. Currently, I am working with Wes Sundquist at University of Utah to generate HIV-1 RNA lariats in vitro. My drug development work is on RNA lariat debranching inhibitors, which have promise as therapies for treating the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). I am collaborating with Dr. Aaron Gitler of Stanford University, with funding from Stanford's SPARK Translational Research Program. I am also collaborating with the University of Kansas Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation, with funding through a National Institutes of Health National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NIH-NCATS) grant to the University of Kansas. We are actively seeking a commercial partner or investors to advance our drug development program, which is described more fully in the Projects section of my Linkedin profile. As a biotechnology consultant, I have worked with clients to evaluate options for creating biological readouts in high-throughput screening (HTS) protocols. I have also helped clients supervise molecular biology work done by contract research organizations. I have served in many leadership positions in my academic unit at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). Notably, I have served as chair of 5 search committees that have recruited 7 internationally-competitive tenure-track faculty members since 2016. I have also served as chair of my department. I teach undergraduate, graduate, and professional students; I supervise students in my laboratory; and I still perform experiments at the lab bench.