Preclinical Pharmacology Core
Preclinical Pharmacology Core Facility
DIRECTOR: DR. NICHOLAS CLANTON
The Voelcker Preclinical Pharmacology Core (PPC) is a state-of-the art core facility on the UTSA main campus that provides industry-level resources in preclinical development and bioanalysis for small molecule drug discovery programs.
The PPC provides services in several areas of preclinical development including in vitro ADME screening, in vivo PK analysis, toxicology, formulation development, and metabolite ID. The Core also provides consultation and project planning to accelerate the translation of small drug discovery programs through preclinical development and identify candidates with true clinical potential.
Services Provided:
In vitro evaluation of key ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion) properties of preclinical candidates
In vitro Drug transport studies including drug efflux (e.g., P-gp) and uptake transporters
In vitro toxicology assessment
Metabolite ID from in vitro or in vivo drug metabolism studies
LCMS method development for the quantitative bioanalysis of pharmaceuticals and new chemical entities
In vivo Pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis in rodents
Formulation development for in vivo study preparation
Ion channel screening by automated patch clamp (APC) electrophysiology
Custom targeted bioanalysis of xenobiotics and endogenous metabolites
Facilities and Instrumentation
- Thermo Scientific Orbitrap 120 mass spectrometer and Vanquish Flex UHPLC/MS system
- Thermo Scientific TSQ Altis Plus triple quadrupole mass spectrometer and Vanquish Flex UHPLC/MS system
- Sophion QPatch-II automated patch clamp system
- Molecular Devices Spectramax i3x multimodal plate reader with MiniMax imaging cytometer
- Eppendorf 5810R and 5424R centrifuges
- Omni BeadRuptor 24 bead mill
- Eppendorf Vacufuge Plus centrifugal concentrator
- Two separate facilities for mammalian cell culture including a biosafety cabinet, CO2 incubators, inverted microscope, and automated cell counter
- Benchmark OrbiShaker CO2 for suspension cell culture
- Benchmark Incu-Mixer MP and Eppendorf Thermomixer F1.5 incubating shakers
Software Resources:
- Schrodinger Small Molecule Drug Discovery software suite hosted on 128 CPU workstation with 3x NVIDIA A5000 GPUs
- Thermo Compound Discoverer v3.3 software for metabolite ID and untargeted LCMS analysis
- Industry-standard Certara Phoenix PK analysis software
- Prism Graphpad for data visualization and presentation
- Sophion Analyzer software for processing of APC dat
Researchers:
The PPC has five full-time, dedicated staff to support the broad range of expertise covered by our core services. The PPC also has student researchers supporting our collaborative programs.
CURRENT STAFF
Nicholas Clanton, Ph.D. Director
Dr. Clanton has served as the assistant director of the PPC its founding in 2021 and became the full director in 2025. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2021 under the mentorship or Dr. Doug Frantz where he worked on the synthesis and biological evaluation of anticancer compounds inspired by the taccalonolide natural products. Dr. Clanton brings extensive experience in medicinal chemistry, LCMS bioanalysis, cell biology, and biological assay development to the PPC. Under Dr. Clanton’s leadership, the PPC has quickly evolved to become a premier destination for early stage ADME and DMPK services as evidenced by partnership with over a dozen academic, non-profit, and commercial institutions from across the country. Within this time, the PPC has supported over 30 individual research projects in a vast range of therapeutic areas including cancer, chronic pain, and infectious disease.
Peter LoCoco, Ph.D.
Dr. Peter LoCoco is a special research associate at the Voelcker Preclinical Pharmacology Core. He received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology in 2017 from UT Health San Antonio under the co-mentorship of Drs. William P. Clarke and Susan Mooberry studying neuroprotection against paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy. Following, he did a postdoctoral fellowship in pain neurobiology at UT Health San Antonio with Dr. Kenneth Hargreaves studying peripheral mechanisms of neuropathic pain associated with type 2 diabetes, high-fat diet, partial thickness burn injury, cancer chemotherapy, and idiopathic neuropathy. Dr. LoCoco joined the Preclinical Pharmacology Core in early 2023. Alongside Dr. Clanton, he helped establish the biological assays offered by the PPC as well as the in vivo pharmacokinetic testing pipeline. Most recently, he is overseeing the implementation of the Sophion QPatch automated patch clamp electrophysiology system to enable robust safety target screening of small molecules against critical cardiac ion channels as well as efficacy testing of novel molecules targeting specific ion channels.
Andrew Boyer, M.S.
Andrew Dean Boyer is a Research Associate in the Voelcker Preclinical Pharmacology Core. He obtained his bachelor’s from the University of Texas at El Paso in Cellular and Molecular Biochemistry and moved on to obtain his Master’s in Diagnostic Genetics in Houston at M.D. Anderson. His work has included cytogenetics, animal work and cancer research. He joined the Preclinical Pharmacology Core in 2023 and handles the organization and execution of most of the in vivo services performed in the Core.
Joseph Boerma, B.S.
Joe Boerma joined the Preclinical Pharmacology Core in November 2023 as a Research Associate. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Carleton College, working on ligand and catalyst design towards small molecule activation under Dr. Matthew Whited. He went on to work on cell replication and chromatin remodeling at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and novel antibiotic discovery at Princeton University. Later, he joined the Biologics Process R&D group at Merck, performing monoclonal antibody purification for new drug pipelines. Prior to moving to UTSA, he worked as a scientist in the In Vitro Release Testing group at Tergus Pharmaceuticals, leading submissions of Abbreviated New Drug Applications to the FDA. His focus in the PPC is on ADME assay optimization and LCMS bioanalysis.
Gianna Bujanos, B.S.
Gianna Bujanos first joined the Preclinical Pharmacology Core in the summer of 2024 as She was also a part of the first cohort to participate in the UTSA Voelcker Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates. She joined the Core full-time in January 2025 as a Research Scientist Associate I. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio in 2024. Before joining the Core, her undergraduate research focused on identifying natural products with selective cytotoxicity to triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell lines under the guidance of Dr. Charles Fermaintt. In the PPC, Gianna is involved in the vector cloning and generation of stable cell lines for ion channel and drug transport studies.
CURRENT STUDENTS
Daniel Rounds, Undergraduate Researcher
FORMER STUDENTS
Noor Al Chabaawi
Danae Biscardi
Guari Raj
Sierra Lee
Amber Frantz
Lisa Yang
North Awad
Angel Thomas
Alexandra Karle
Victoria Rios
Peri Harward
Relevant Publications:
Jaskowski, L.N.; Clanton, N. A.; Wilkinson, N.; Bartles, J.; LoCoco, P. M.; Frantz, A.; Boyer, A. D.; Boerma, J.; Brown, S.; Fernandez, K.; Archer, N. E.; Tekin, V.; Fernandez, S. R.; Risinger, A. L.; Frantz, D. E.; Lapi. S. E.; Pharmacokinetics of [18F]-taccalonolide, a covalent microtubule stabilizer, in triple-negative breast cancer xenografts. ACS Med Chem Lett. 2025. Articles ASAP
Gregory-Flores, A.; Bonet, I. J. M.; Desaivre, S.; McHardy, S. F.; de Kraker, H. C.; Clanton, N. A.; LoCoco, P. M.; Russell, N. M.; Fleischer, C.; Messing, R.; Marinelli, M. A Novel Small Molecule PKC Epsilon Inhibitor Reduces Hyperalgesia Induced by Paclitaxel or Opioid Withdrawal. JCI Insight. 2025, 10 (8):e186805
Pratap, U. P.; Tidwell, M.; Balinda, H. U.; Clanton, N. A.; Yang, X.; Viswanadhapalli, S.; Sareddy, G. R.; Liang, D.; Xie, H.; Chen, Y.; Lai, Z.; Tekmal, R. R.; McHardy, S. F.; Brenner, A. J.; Vadlamudi, R. K. Preclinical development of brain permeable ERβ agonist for the treatment of glioblastoma. Mol. Cancer Ther. 2023, 22 (11), 1248-1260