David Vocadlo, Simon Fraser University

Research

Mass Spectrometry Proteomics Glycobiology Protein Glycosylation Chemical Biology Nutrient Responsive Enzymes Carbohydrates

Latest papers

Synthesis and Evaluation of Iminosugar-Based Analogs of UDP-GlcNAc as Putative OGT Inhibitors.
ChemMedChem · 2026
A Genetically Encoded Assay System to Quantify O-GlcNAc Transferase (OGT) Activity in Live Cells.
Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2025 · senior author
A round up on some of the latest in the chemistry and biology of carbohydrates and carbohydrate-processing enzymes.
Current opinion in chemical biology · 2019 · first author

All 7 publications

Latest funding

The role of MYORG in primary brain calcification.
CIHR · 2026 · Nominated PI
$960,076
Hands-on high resolution mass spectrometer to support medicinal and materials chemistry
NSERC · 2025 · Co-investigator
$150,000
Molecular regulation of O-GlcNAc Transferase (OGT)
CIHR · 2024 · Nominated PI
$979,200

All 44 grants and awards

7 publications.

01

Synthesis and Evaluation of Iminosugar-Based Analogs of UDP-GlcNAc as Putative OGT Inhibitors.

Auberger N, Tran TV, Lemaire Q, Busmann J, Lacritick M, Mortuaire M, Schulz C, Vercoutter-Edouart AS, Pâris A, Vocadlo D, Lafite P, Vincent SP, Lefebvre T, Blériot Y

ChemMedChem2026

DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.70381 PMID: 42457629

02

A Genetically Encoded Assay System to Quantify O-GlcNAc Transferase (OGT) Activity in Live Cells.

Wu WB, Zhu Y, Bian J, Busmann J, Vocadlo D

Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English)2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1002/anie.202513269 PMID: 40952165

03

A round up on some of the latest in the chemistry and biology of carbohydrates and carbohydrate-processing enzymes.

Vocadlo D, Overkleeft H

Current opinion in chemical biology2019First author

DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2019.11.010 PMID: 31864526

04

Software for rapid time dependent ChIP-sequencing analysis (TDCA).

Myschyshyn M, Farren-Dai M, Chuang TJ, Vocadlo D

BMC bioinformatics2017Senior author

DOI: 10.1186/s12859-017-1936-x PMID: 29178831

05

Multivalency To Inhibit and Discriminate Hexosaminidases.

Alvarez-Dorta D, King DT, Legigan T, Ide D, Adachi I, Deniaud D, Désiré J, Kato A, Vocadlo D, Gouin SG, Blériot Y

Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)2017

DOI: 10.1002/chem.201701756 PMID: 28548311

06

Catalytic Promiscuity of O-GlcNAc Transferase Enables Unexpected Metabolic Engineering of Cytoplasmic Proteins with 2-Azido-2-deoxy-glucose.

Shen DL, Liu TW, Zandberg W, Clark T, Eskandari R, Alteen MG, Tan HY, Zhu Y, Cecioni S, Vocadlo D

ACS chemical biology2017Senior author

DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.6b00876 PMID: 27935279

07

Mislocalization of TDP-43 in the G93A mutant SOD1 transgenic mouse model of ALS.

Shan X, Vocadlo D, Krieger C

Neuroscience letters2009

DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2009.04.031 PMID: 19379791

The role of MYORG in primary brain calcification.

Nominated PICIHR2026Project Grant

Principal investigators: Vocadlo, David

Keywords: Brain Calcification; Enzymes; Glycobiology; Glycomics; Glycoside Hydrolase; Hipsc; Mass Spectrometry; Pharmacological Chaperone; Primary Familial Brain Calcification; Proteomics

$960,076

Hands-on high resolution mass spectrometer to support medicinal and materials chemistry

Co-investigatorNSERC2025Research Tools and Instruments

Principal investigators: Young, Robert

Keywords: medicinal chemistry; bioinorganic chemistry; chemical biology; materials sciences; drug discovery; drug development; pharmacokinetics; drug metabolism; drug target identification; enzymology

$150,000

Molecular regulation of O-GlcNAc Transferase (OGT)

Nominated PICIHR2024Project Grant

Principal investigators: Vocadlo, David

Keywords: Allosteric Regulation; Binding Assays; Carbohydrates; Cell-Based Assays; Enzyme Assays; Enzyme Inhibitors; Enzyme Regulation; Glycobiology; Peptide Binding Site; X-Ray Structural Biology

$979,200

Chemical tools for identifying therapeutic targets for Parkinson's disease

SupervisorCIHR2024CIHR Fellowship

Principal investigators: See, Nicholas W

Keywords: Biochemistry; Cell Biology; Chemistry; Enzymology; Molecular Biology; Parkinson'S Disease; Therapeutics

$140,000

CO2-dependent protein carboxylation as a biochemical mechanism of CO2 sensing in pathogens

Co-investigatorCIHR2024Project Grant

Principal investigators: King, Dustin T

Keywords: Biochemistry; Chemical Biology; Chemoproteomics; Co2; Co2 Sensing; Mass Spectrometry; Microbial Metabolite Sensing; Pathogens; Post-Translational Modifications; Transcriptomics

$994,500

Identification of CO2 sensors in cyanobacteria – toward improved carbon capture.

Co-investigatorSSHRC2022New Frontiers in Research Fund - Exploration

Principal investigators: King, Dustin

Keywords: protein carboxylation; metabolite sensing; protein sensor; chemoproteomics; post-translational modification; cyanobacteria; carbon fixation; protein biochemistry; carbon dioxide; genomics

$125,000

Characterization of stem cell-derived human dopaminergic neuron subtypes

Co-investigatorNSERC2022Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: Julian, Lisa LM

$68,000

Selective non-carbohydrate GBA2 inhibitors and their evaluation in models of Batten Disease.

Nominated PICIHR2022Project Grant

Principal investigators: Vocadlo, David

Keywords: Carbohydrates; Enzymes; Glycobiology; High-Throughput Screening; Inhibitors; Medicinal Chemistry

$455,176

Chemical tools for studying carbohydrates and carbohydrate processing enzymes

Principal investigatorNSERC2020Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Vocadlo, David

$630,000

Chemical biology probes to monitor glucocerebrosidase activity in fixed cells and tissues _x000d_

Principal investigatorNSERC2020Alliance Grants

Principal investigators: Vocadlo, David

$118,434

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Wesley Zandberg

Biology

1 shared papers, latest 2017

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2026

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Mass Spectrometry Dear Professor Vocadlo, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Synthesis and Evaluation of Iminosugar-Based Analogs of UDP-GlcNAc as Putative OGT Inhibitors." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "The role of MYORG in primary brain calcification." (2026), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]