Mikail E Abbasov, PhD

1110 North Stonewall Avenue, Suite 331
Oklahoma City, OK 73117

Hewitt Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellow, The Scripps Research Institute, 2020. Chemoproteomics, Molecular Biology
PhD, Texas A&M University, 2015. Synthetic Organic/Medicinal Chemistry, Chemical Methodology [Summa Cum Laude]
MSc, Killgore Research Center, 2009. Nonlinear Optical Physics, Materials Science [Magna Cum Laude]
BSc, West Texas A&M University, 2004. Biochemistry, Vocal Performance [Summa Cum Laude]
ASc, Amarillo College, 2002. Cell Biology [Cum Laude]

Academic Appointments:

2026–present, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Physiology, College of Medicine, OUHSC
2025–present, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, OUHSC
2021–2024, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University

My research operates at the interface of chemistry, biology, and medicine, developing chemical and technological strategies that modulate protein function and disease pathways through noncanonical mechanisms. My laboratory integrates synthetic chemistry, mass spectrometry-based chemoproteomics, and functional biology to identify druggable targets in native biological systems and to connect molecular engagement to functional phenotypes.

A central focus of my group is the development of next-generation lysine-targeting therapeutic modalities, including covalent inhibitors, bifunctional degraders, molecular glues, protein fusion-targeting chimeras, and programmable post-translational mutagenesis. My contributions include a proteome-wide atlas of lysine-reactive chemistry, which profiled more than 30 chemotypes and mapped hundreds of ligandable lysines, among them sites long considered undruggable, in primary human immune cells, and activity-based acylome profiling, which installs and reads lysine acylation in living cells to control protein function without genetic manipulation.

These platforms convert covalent hits into validated biology. Biomimetic synthesis coupled to quantitative chemoproteomics defined the mechanism of action and functional targets of phloroglucinol meroterpenoids, mapping covalent lysine engagement of a mitochondrial protein in breast cancer models. In live Shigella flexneri, phenotypic screening of an electrophilic fragment library coupled to competitive activity-based protein profiling identified FabH and MiaA as the physiologically relevant targets of an antibacterial hit.

Current research areas include chronic lymphocytic leukemia (profiling leukemic B cells against autologous non-malignant T cells), host-pathogen interactions, immunometabolism, and traumatic stress disorders.

In addition to research, I teach graduate courses in chemical biology and pharmacology, and I have mentored or continue to train 4 postdoctoral fellows, 7 doctoral students, and 14 undergraduate researchers, whose awards include NSF Graduate Research Fellowships, NIH T32 traineeships, and McNair Scholarships. I serve on NSF review panels, graduate admissions and program committees, and as a reviewer for journals across chemistry and chemical biology, and I lead K-12 STEM outreach and teacher workshops in Oklahoma.

Research Interests:

• Noncanonical chemical strategies for modulating protein function and disease pathways
• Mass spectrometry-based chemoproteomics for target identification in native systems
• Lysine-targeting modalities: covalent inhibitors, bifunctional degraders, molecular glues, protein fusion-targeting chimeras, and programmable post-translational mutagenesis
• Total synthesis of complex natural products and design of simplified analogs
• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia: comparative chemoproteomic profiling of leukemic B cells and autologous non-malignant T cells
• Host-pathogen interactions, immunometabolism, and traumatic stress disorders

College of Pharmacy Seed Grant (PI: Abbasov), 09/2026–08/2027. Chemoproteomics-guided discovery of lysine-directed E3 ligase recruiters for targeted protein degradation

2022–2023          Adam and Rachel Broder Fund for Cancer Research (Cornell University)

2021–2024          Maximizing Investigators Research Award (MIRA) for Early-Stage Investigators (Cornell University)

2016–2020          George E. Hewitt Foundation for Medical Research Fellowship (The Scripps Research Institute)

2014–2015          Richard W. Schmude Graduate Scholarship in Chemistry (Texas A&M University)

2009–2010          Regent’s Graduate Fellowship (Texas A&M University)

Select Publications: