Logan Spaller, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor
Logan Spaller, PhD joined Parker Highlander in 2024. Prior to his tenure with Parker Highlander, Logan served at the University of Texas at Austin’s Technology Transfer Office, where he played a key role in negotiating licensing deals for UT's intellectual property portfolio. His responsibilities included managing the university's IP portfolio, conducting patentability assessments, and making strategic filing decisions.
Logan holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin and a BS in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During his doctoral studies, he focused on understanding the mechanisms by which the proteasome, the primary protein degradation machinery in cells, selects substrates for degradation, leading to the design of new targeted protein degradation therapeutics.
At Parker Highlander, Logan is working under the supervision of patent attorneys and patent agents to draft patent applications across various domains of biology, biochemistry, and biomedical sciences, including gene therapy and vaccine development.
Professional Honors
- 2017--Provost's Graduate Excellence Fellowship
Publications
- Davis, C., Spaller, B. L., Choi, E., Kurrasch, J., Chong, H., Elsasser, S., Finley, D., Matouschek, A. "A strict requirement in proteasome substrates for spacing between ubiquitin tag and degradation initiation elements." BioRxiv 2023.
- Davis, C., Spaller, B. L., Matouschek, A. "Mechanisms of substrate recognition by the 26S proteasome." Current Opinion in Structural Biology 2021 67, 161-169.
- Bradford, K. C., Wilkins, H., Hao, P., Li, Z. M., Wang, B., Burke, D., Wu, D., Smith, A. E., Spaller, L., Du, C., Gauer, J. W., Chan, E., Hsieh, P., Weninger, K. R., Erie, D. A. "Dynamic human MutSα-MutLα complexes compact mismatched DNA." PNAS 2020 117(28), 16302-16312.
- Ablan, F. D. O., Spaller, B. L., Abdo, K. I., Almeida, P. F. "Charge distribution fine-tunes the translocation of α-helical amphipathic peptides across membranes." Biophysical Journal 2016 111(8), 1738-1749.
- Wheaten, S. A., Ablan, F. D. O., Spaller, B. L., Trieu, J. M., Almeida, P. F. "Translocation of cationic amphipathic peptides across the membranes of pure phospholipid giant vesicles." JACS 2013 135(44), 16517-16525.
- Spaller, B. L., Trieu, J. M., Almeida, P. F. "Hemolytic activity of membrane-active peptides correlates with the thermodynamics of binding to 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phophocholine bilayers." The Journal of Membrane Biology 2013 246, 257-262.
Educational Background
- 2024--PhD, Biochemistry, University of Texas at Austin
- 2017--BS, Chemistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill