The University of Texas at San Antonio

Partner Institution Strengths & Capabilities

Contact Information

Name: Doug E. Frantz

Title: Professor and Assistant Chair, Department of Chemistry

Email: doug.frantz@utsa.edu

Research

1. Please list the research areas in which your institution currently engages.

  • Bio effects: Kirk Schanze, kirk.schanze@utsa.edu

  • Functional materials & applications: Kirk Schanze, kirk.schanze@utsa.edu

  • Electro-optical sensing: Kirk Schanze, kirk.schanze@utsa.edu

2. Please note any research areas of strength not listed above. This may include fundamental sciences (e.g. math, physics, biology, etc.).

  • Small molecule drug discovery, synthetic organic chemistry, organic materials: Stanton F. McHardy, Stanton.mchardy@utsa.edu and Doug E. Frantz, doug.frantz@utsa.edu

  • Small molecule probes for biomedical applications and biosensors: Stanton F. McHardy, Stanton.mchardy@utsa.edu and Doug E. Frantz, doug.frantz@utsa.edu

  • Non-linear optical materials: Kirk Schanze, kirk.schanze@utsa.edu

3. Please list any emerging areas of research your department/institution is actively seeking to develop.

  • Protein Degradation and Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras (PROTAC’s) for drug discovery: Stanton F. McHardy, Stanton.mchardy@utsa.edu and Doug E. Frantz, doug.frantz@utsa.edu

  • Preclinical pharmacology, drug metabolism: Doug E. Frantz, doug.frantz@utsa.edu

  • Molecular modeling, molecular dynamics, and Artificial: Doug E. Frantz, doug.frantz@utsa.edu

4. Does your department have any internal research centers or participate in any research consortia?

  • Center for Innovative Drug Discovery (www.utcidd.org), Stanton F. McHardy, Stanton.mchardy@utsa.edu

  • San Antonio Partnership for Precision Therapeutics (www.sappt.org), Stanton F. McHardy, Stanton.mchardy@utsa.edu

  • UTSA Brain Health Consortium (https://www.utsa.edu/bhc/), Doug E. Frantz, doug.frantz@utsa.edu

5. Please provide a list of relevant facilities and equipment.

6. Does your institution have a relationship with any other academic institution or research organization(s) that enables your access to their facilities and equipment?

  • UT Health San Antonio (https://uthscsa.edu) - shared core facilities across both institutions

  • Southwest Research Institute (https://www.swri.org) – existing funded collaborations between faculty and staff

  • Texas Biomedical Research Institute (https://www.txbiomed.org ) - existing funded collaborations between faculty and staff

ML-RCP Program Expectations

7. The objective of the AFRL ML-RCP is to enable and enhance the research capabilities of the HBCU’s/MSIs through collaborative research efforts with AFRL. What would be necessary for you to receive to meet this objective?

As a recently designated R1 research institution, the Department of Chemistry at UTSA is looking to rapidly expand its research infrastructure and educational programs by building strong collaborations with external partners such as the AFRL. In particular, we are looking for avenues to grow our PhD program in chemistry by providing graduate students opportunities to participate in internship programs that will enhance their graduate experience at UTSA.

We would also like to highlight Dr. Kirk Schanze, who is a world-renowned expert in photoresponsive materials, conjugated polymers and electro-optical sensors. He also has current funding from AFOSR and is eager to establish a collaborative research program with AFRL ML-RCP given the fact that his research program is highly synergistic with the mission of the AFRL.