Diversity in Life Sciences

Dr. Zapporah Young graduated from Duke University with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. Prior to attending graduate school, she worked as a radiochemist synthesizing diagnostic and novel PET ligand radiotracer compounds for imaging pediatric cancer at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. Following her radiochemistry experience, she completed her graduate student work at the University of Michigan where she used an array of biochemical and cellular assays to determine the mechanism of action of small molecules targeting the molecular chaperone Hsp70. Dr. Young completed her postdoctoral studies at AstraZeneca in the neurobiology department. Using her experience in chemical biology, she validated novel protein targets for axon degeneration through identification of small molecule modulators of protein structure and conformation. She continued to gain expertise in target validation as a Scientist at Yumanity Therapeutics where she developed and validated methods for evaluating small molecules in ALS disease models. She is currently a Senior Scientist at Casma Therapeutics where she collaborates with teams of chemists and biologists to lead drug discovery programs across multiple disease areas. In her free time Dr. Young enjoys playing soccer and exploring her creativity through crafting.