Dr. Anthony Prudden, Founder and Lead Scientist
Anthony received his PhD in synthetic carbohydrate chemistry in 2016 at University of Georgia under the guidance of Dr. Geert-Jan Boons. During his graduate studies, Anthony was awarded the Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Institutes of Health to develop synthetic strategies for rapidly accessing different classes of complex carbohydrates.
During the course of his graduate studies, Anthony developed the largest known collection of synthetic human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) which were used to fabricate a first-of-its-kind microarray for high-throughput screening; the results of which illustrated how immune and viral proteins interact with particular carbohydrate epitopes found in breastmilk (PNAS 2017).
After finishing his graduate studies, Dr. Prudden remained in the laboratory of Dr. Boons as a post-doctoral researcher where he devised a chemo-enzymatic strategy to assemble complex symmetric and asymmetric N-glycans. This carbohydrate class is important in a myriad of biological functions ranging from protein folding and cell signaling, to antibody activity and biomarker development. Due to the heterogeneous nature of these structures, determining how a specific N-glycan structure modulates a protein’s activity has remained a challenge. To address this problem, Anthony pioneered a synthetic methodology to access single structure N-glycans of exceptional purity. The results of this work have been published (Nature Chem 2018) and the technology developed resulted in the issuance of a patent.
Complimenting Anthony’s research projects, he has also served as a research mentor to undergraduate students. From 2019 through 2024, Anthony personally trained 11 students in a range of scientific techniques such as chemical and enzymatic synthesis, NMR and mass spectrometry analysis, and E. coli mediated protein expression. Several students opted to pursue graduate degrees in Chemistry and Biology, while others have enrolled in professional programs such as medicine and law.
Capitalizing on his successful graduate and post-graduate work, Anthony received NIH SBIR (2019 and 2020) funding to focus on two key research areas: (1) To investigate the anti-inflammatory properties of human milk oligosaccharides and (2) To develop a library of isotopically labeled N-glycan standards which can be used as an analytical reference material.
Dr. Prudden has contributed to numerous academic collaborations, has worked as a consultant to a glyco-focused biotech company, and is listed as an inventor on several patents. He welcomes inquiries for professional and scientific collaboration.