Shivani Patel

I grew up in Hyderabad, India and I now find myself ‘across the pond’ as a graduate student at the University of Ottawa, where I soak in the winter, the culture, and the people while pursuing my degree in Biochemistry as a young research enthusiast. I am currently working on a thesis that focuses on the development of pharmacologically distinct opioid analgesics.

My research and career interests lie at the nexus of the two worlds of biomedical research: In vitro studies and In silico studies and I have been fortunate to pursue relevant opportunities in India and Canada. My work largely focuses on using bioinformatic tools to exploit pharmacology to develop potential targets for pain modulators with better efficacy and decreased side effects.

I am passionate to explore new opportunities that make use of the best of the different domains of research to make new scientific discoveries in the field of drug designing and pharmacology.

The University of Ottawa, Faculty of Medicine Jan 2020-May 2022

• Implemented molecular dynamics refinement of the crystal structures of the Mu-Opioid Receptor and the Nav1.7 channel.
• Performed structure-activity relationship studies and molecular docking simulation analysis to design three novel multi-target directed ligands to achieve hybrid analgesia by targeting two different nodes on the pain target.
• Initiated, designed, and led the execution of virtual ligand screening of a drug library consisting of 1.6 million compounds to identify bifunctional pain therapeutic candidates and identified ~9000 initial candidates.
• Validated the VLS candidates at the Mu-Opioid receptor by performing high throughput analytical assay screening and discovered 44 potential agonist hits.
• Performed molecular cloning and protein analysis of Nav1.7 and Nav1.8 and generated stable-cell line expressing the cloned proteins.
• Design, development, and optimization of a novel mechanism-specific membrane potential assay which will assist in the discovery of subtype-selective Nav1.7 inhibitors.

Masters of Biochemistry at University of Ottawa