Henok Sahile, University of British Columbia

Research

Antihistamine Drugs Drug Discovery Drug Repurposing Host Directed Therapy Medicinal Chemistry Tuberculosis

Latest papers

Vacuolar-ATPase inhibitors are antimicrobial agents active against intracellular mycobacteria.
Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2025
Investigating the anti-cancer potential of pyrimethamine analogues through a modern chemical biology lens.
European journal of medicinal chemistry · 2024
Imidazopyridine Amides: Synthesis, Mycobacterium smegmatis CIII2CIV2 Supercomplex Binding, and In Vitro Antimycobacterial Activity.
ACS omega · 2023

All 3 publications

Latest funding

Developing fenoxacrim derivatives against drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis
CIHR · 2026 · Co-investigator
$963,900
Repurposing Histamine Receptor 1 (HR1) blockers for host directed therapy of tuberculosis
CIHR · 2023 · Nominated PI
$270,000

All 2 grants and awards

3 publications.

01

Vacuolar-ATPase inhibitors are antimicrobial agents active against intracellular mycobacteria.

Rankine-Wilson L, Shapira T, Felker J, Christofferson M, Sahile H, Chao J, Afshar H, Andersen RJ, Sun J, Av-Gay Y

Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy2025

DOI: 10.1128/aac.00478-25 PMID: 41170946

02

Investigating the anti-cancer potential of pyrimethamine analogues through a modern chemical biology lens.

Brown JI, Persaud R, Iliev P, Karmacharya U, Attarha S, Sahile H, Olsen JE, Hanke D, Idowu T, Frank DA, Frankel A, Williams KC, Page BDG

European journal of medicinal chemistry2024

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115971 PMID: 38071795

03

Imidazopyridine Amides: Synthesis, Mycobacterium smegmatis CIII2CIV2 Supercomplex Binding, and In Vitro Antimycobacterial Activity.

Abdelaziz R, Di Trani JM, Sahile H, Mann L, Richter A, Liu Z, Bueler SA, Cowen LE, Rubinstein JL, Imming P

ACS omega2023

DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c02259 PMID: 37273644

Developing fenoxacrim derivatives against drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Co-investigatorCIHR2026Project Grant

Principal investigators: Av-Gay, Yossef

Keywords: Antibiotics; Drug Discovery; Hit To Lead; Medicinal Chemistry; Sar; Tuberculosis

$963,900

Repurposing Histamine Receptor 1 (HR1) blockers for host directed therapy of tuberculosis

Nominated PICIHR2023CIHR REDI Early Career Transition Award - Pandemic Prepared./Health Emergencies

Principal investigators: Sahile, Henok A

Keywords: Antihistamine Drugs; Drug Discovery; Drug Repurposing; Host Directed Therapy; Medicinal Chemistry; Tuberculosis

$270,000

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

Yossef Av-Gay

Medicine

1 shared papers, latest 2025

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 2023

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Antihistamine Drugs Dear Professor Sahile, 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 "Vacuolar-ATPase inhibitors are antimicrobial agents active against intracellular mycobacteria." (2025), 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 "Repurposing Histamine Receptor 1 (HR1) blockers for host directed therapy of tuberculosis" (2023), 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]