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September 12, 2024

UW’s Ashleigh Theberge receives Schmidt Sciences Polymath honors for ‘boundary-pushing work’ in cell signaling, communication

Ashleigh Theberge, associate professor of chemistry at the University of Washington, has been named to the Schmidt Sciences Polymath Program, entitling her to grants of up to $2.5 million over five years to “pursue risky, novel theories that would otherwise be difficult to fund,” according to a Sept. 10 announcement from Schmidt Sciences. Theberge — one of six awardees this year — was selected from an applicant pool of 117, and is the first UW faculty member selected for the program, which is in its third year.

At the UW, Theberge is co-principal investigator of the Bioanalytical Chemistry for Medicine and the Environment Laboratory with Erwin Berthier, UW affiliate professor of chemistry. They study the chemical signals that cells use to communicate with one another. The organization of our bodies, with different types of cells taking on discrete functions, depends on this biochemical language.

“I am very grateful for this funding which will enable us to explore new research directions with the goal of both better understanding molecular mechanisms and improving patient care,” said Theberge, who is also an adjunct faculty member in the UW Department of Urology.

“This award is a testament to the visionary interdisciplinary research program led by Professor Ashleigh Theberge, which lies at the intersection of analytical chemistry, chemical biology, and human health,” said Munira Khalil, professor and chair of chemistry at the UW.

Theberge’s research has numerous applications in medicine, environmental science and beyond. She is pursuing the chemical mechanisms underlying asthma, allergy, infectious diseases, urologic conditions, kidney disease, rheumatic conditions and environmental exposure to different substances. Her team’s efforts include developing analytical chemistry tools to advance medicine, such as biomimetic microfluidic systems for integrated cell culture and analysis and at-home sampling tools for diagnostics and environmental monitoring.

Theberge has formed dozens of collaborations in other fields since joining the UW faculty in 2016. She works closely with clinicians, for example, to investigate how chemical processes are linked to patient symptoms. A related, emerging area of research centers on using at-home sampling tools to ask molecular questions that are not possible with traditional, in-person studies. Early funding for this new research direction was provided by the UW’s CoMotion and the Interdisciplinary Center for Exposures, Diseases, Genomics and Environment. Theberge leveraged results from those studies in her Schmidt Sciences Polymath proposal.

In the Schmidt Sciences Polymath Program, Theberge plans to “explore the potential of tailoring drug treatments and doses based on individual biochemistry using remote specimen collection, data analysis and AI to map molecular pathways at the cellular level,” according to the award announcement.

“The Schmidt Sciences Polymath Program allows bold, creative thinkers to pursue knowledge across boundaries and in doing so, to help all of us better understand the deep interconnections between people, planet and universe,” said Schmidt Sciences co-founder Wendy Schmidt.

Theberge, who will be promoted to professor on Sept. 16, holds numerous patents and has received several awards. Among them are a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, a Sloan Research Fellowship in Chemistry, a Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, Beckman Young Investigator Award, a Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award from the National Institutes of Health and a Kavli Microbiome Ideas Challenge Award. Theberge’s efforts in mentoring — which promote values of and diversity, equity, and inclusion — have earned her a UW Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, the Department of Chemistry Faculty Award for Excellence in Student Mentoring and recognition as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Mentor.

Theberge earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Williams College and a doctoral degree in chemistry from the University of Cambridge. Prior to joining the UW faculty, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Tag(s): Ashleigh Theberge • awards • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Chemistry

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