Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Email: rsweeney(a)chem.ubc.ca
Phone: 604-822-8847
Education:
2018–present: Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of British Columbia. Supervisor: Prof. Stephen G. Withers
2012–2018: Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, University of Alberta. Supervisor: Prof. Todd L. Lowary
2007–2012 B.Sc. in Chemistry, The Ohio State University
Research Interests:
It is becoming increasingly apparent that glycans and their interactions in biological systems have important implications in health-related areas, such as in the innate immune system, the surface of cancer cells, and host-pathogen interactions. My research interests include the chemical and chemo-enzymatic synthesis of glycans and the mechanistic understanding of their interactions in biologically relevant systems.
My current research involves the development of a titration reagent for a-amylases.
Selected Publications:
- Sweeney, R. P.; Lowary, T. L. “A Route to Polyprenol Pyrophosphate-Based Probes of O-Polysaccharide Biosynthesis in Klebsiella pneumoniae O2a” Org. Lett. 2019, 21, 1050–1053
- Ati, J.; Colas, C.; Lafite, P.; Sweeney, R. P.; Zheng, R. B.; Lowary, T. L.; Daniellou, R. “The LPG1x family from Leishmania major is constituted of rare eukaryotic galactofuranosyltransferases with unprecedented catalytic properties” Sci. Rep., 2018, 8, 17566
- Thota, V. N.; Ferguson, M. J.; Sweeney, R. P.; Lowary, T. L. “Synthesis of the Campylobacter jejuni 81-176 strain capsular polysaccharide repeating unit reveals the absolute configuration of its O-methyl phosphoramidate motif” Agnew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 15592–15596.