Stephen Wright

Education: 

• B.S. in Zoology, University of California, Davis
• M.S in Zoology, University of California, Davis
• Ph.D. in Biology, University of California, Irvine

The principal focus of Dr. Wright's research for over 35 years has been elucidation of cellular (and in recent years, molecular) mechanisms of membrane transport. For the past 25 years this interest has been directed toward an understanding how the mammalian kidney actively secretes low molecular weight xenobiotic/toxic compounds (often described broadly, owing to their structural characteristics, as organic cations or anions). His laboratory has worked collaboratively with several groups to expand our experimental approaches to include cloned transporters in cultured cells, membrane vesicles isolated from native tissues, intact perfused and non-perfused renal tubules and whole animal clearance. Their results have been published in over 90 primary research papers and 20+ invited reviews and chapters, and his research program has been continuously funded for the past 25 years by the National Institutes of Health and/or the National Science Foundation. In recent years his focus has been primarily directed toward combining experimental and computational approaches to the development of models of the structure of the OCT and OAT family of organic electrolyte transporters; and in the development of methods to predict (and preempt) interactions with toxic agents and unwanted drug-drug interactions.

Environmental research interests - We are currently studying the renal transport of organic anions and cations at several different levels of biological organization.