Joshua Sharp
Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Research Associate Professor in Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Acting Associate Dean of Research
Joshua Sharp is an experienced educator, researcher, entrepreneur and administrator. Since joining the University of Mississippi in 2015, Joshua Sharp is now the Triplett-Behrakis Professor of Pharmacology, as well as the Director of the Glycoscience Center of Research Excellence.
Research Interests
Development and application of technologies to probe the structure-function relationship of proteins, carbohydrates and their complexes
Biography
Professor Sharp is a world renowned and internationally recognized expert in radical protein footprinting (RPF). He has published more than forty peer-reviewed articles in the field of RPF method development, fundamentals, and applications between 2002 and today. Professor Sharp published the first benchtop methods for HRPF, including the first method using UV photolysis of hydrogen peroxide for hydroxyl radical generation. With numerous invited lectures to both academia and private industry on the application of HRPF to biotherapeutics, Dr. Sharp has addressed problems associated with formulation, biosimilarity, aggregation, and protein-protein and protein-ligand interaction mapping. Professor Sharp’s lab is also known for their work in glycosaminoglycan structure-function analysis, and his team commonly leverages their expertise in both areas to study protein-carbohydrate complexes.
Professor Sharp received his PhD in 2003 from a joint program between Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee, under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Hettich. He performed his postdoctoral studies at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in the Laboratory of Structural Biology, under the supervision of Dr. Kenneth Tomer. In 2007, he joined the University of Georgia’s Complex Carbohydrate Research Center as a research faculty member. Most recently, Professor Sharp joined the faculty at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, where he currently serves as the Triplett-Behrakis Professor of Pharmacology, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Director of the Glycoscience Center of Research Excellence. Professor Sharp is also an active entrepreneur, serving as founder, CTO and Director of GenNext Technologies, Inc. He has received multiple awards for excellence in research, winning the Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Faculty Research Award from the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, the Ron Hites Award from the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, and being designated the inaugural Triplett-Behrakis Endowed Professor of Pharmacology.
Professor Sharp serves on multiple national and international advisory and review panels as an expert on protein and carbohydrate biophysical and structural analysis by mass spectrometry.
Publications
This publication describes the first commercial system for the safe semi-automated performance of hydroxyl radical protein footprinting, a method of protein structural characterization that I helped pioneer.
In this collaborative project with Prof. Ali Salanti, we helped characterize how the malaria protein VAR2CSA interacts with a chondroitin sulfate polysaccharide structure found on the placenta to allow for in utero infection.
Effective Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Entry by Heparin and Enoxaparin Derivatives
This work was one of the key studies establishing that SARS-CoV-2 requires interaction with cell surface heparan sulfate for adhesion and infection of target cells.
Integrated Approach to Identify Heparan Sulfate Ligand Requirements of Robo1
This collaborative work defined a high-affinity structure of heparan sulfate that bound to Robo1 to form a complex key in neuronal development.
Courses Taught
- PHCL 343 Biochemical Foundations of Therapeutics
- PHCL 669 Physiological Chemistry
- BMS 610 Carbohydrates and Glycoconjugates
- BMS 725 Mass Spectrometry: Fundamentals and Applications
Education
Ph.D. Bio Science, University of Tennessee-Knoxville (2003)