Dr. Rachel Harding is an Assistant Professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto and a Principal Investigator at the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) at University Health Network (UHN). She is cross-appointed to the University of Toronto Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and is an Affiliate Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Dr. Harding completed her undergraduate degree (MBiochem) and DPhil at the University of Oxford, where she trained with Dr. Susan Lea, before moving to Toronto for postdoctoral research with Dr. Cheryl Arrowsmith at the SGC. Her postdoctoral work focused on the structure-function of Huntingtin, the protein mutated in Huntington’s disease, supported by a Huntington’s Disease Society of America Berman-Topper Family Career Development Fellowship. Dr. Harding has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications and, as an independent investigator, has secured more than $6 million CAD in research funding as Principal Investigator. Her research contributions have been recognised through several awards and honours, including the 2024 Hereditary Disease Foundation Nancy S. Wexler Young Investigator Prize and the 2025 Huntington Society of Canada Michael Wright Community Leadership Award.
The Harding laboratory uses structural biology, protein biochemistry, biophysics and chemical biology to investigate challenging and understudied areas of human biology and disease, particularly where limited molecular understanding or a lack of high-quality chemical tools has constrained therapeutic discovery. The group combines mechanistic studies with ligand discovery and chemical tool development to understand protein function and identify new opportunities for therapeutic intervention. A major focus of the laboratory is repeat expansion disorders, including Huntington’s disease and other polyglutamine diseases. The team studies how disease-associated mutations alter protein structure, interactions, dynamics and biomolecular condensation, and develops chemical tools to interrogate these processes. The laboratory also works on emerging therapeutic targets beyond neurodegeneration, including targets for non-hormonal contraception. Across these research areas, the group aims to develop robust molecular understanding, high-quality chemical tools and openly available datasets and reagents that enable both fundamental discovery and early-stage drug development.
Geurs S, Staessens E, Bredael K, Borghgraef S, De Ridder J, Persoons L, De Jonghe S, Schols D, Mann MK, Harding RJ, Franceus J, Desmet T, Van Hecke K, Clarisse D, De Bosscher K, D'hooghe M
Eur J Med Chem. 2025-1-18 . 285:117208 .doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2024.117208
PMID: 39823806Li F, Ackloo S, Arrowsmith CH, Ban F, Barden CJ, Beck H, Beránek J, Berenger F, Bolotokova A, Bret G, Breznik M, Carosati E, Chau I, Chen Y, Cherkasov A, Corte DD, Denzinger K, Dong A, Draga S, Dunn I, Edfeldt K, Edwards A, Eguida M, Eisenhuth P, Friedrich L, Fuerll A, Gardiner SS, Gentile F, Ghiabi P, Gibson E, Glavatskikh M, Gorgulla C, Guenther J, Gunnarsson A, Gusev F, Gutkin E, Halabelian L, Harding RJ, Hillisch A, Hoffer L, Hogner A, Houliston S, Irwin JJ, Isayev O, Ivanova A, Jacquemard C, Jarrett AJ, Jensen JH, Kireev D, Kleber J, Koby SB, Koes D, Kumar A, Kurnikova MG, Kutlushina A, Lessel U, Liessmann F, Liu S, Lu W, Meiler J, Mettu A, Minibaeva G, Moretti R, Morris CJ, Narangoda C, Noonan T, Obendorf L, Pach S, Pandit A, Perveen S, Poda G, Polishchuk P, Puls K, Pütter V, Rognan D, Roskams-Edris D, Schindler C, Sindt F, Spiwok V, Steinmann C, Stevens RL, Talagayev V, Tingey D, Vu O, Walters WP, Wang X, Wang Z, Wolber G, Wolf CA, Wortmann L, Zeng H, Zepeda CA, Zhang KYJ, Zhang J, Zheng S, Schapira M
J Chem Inf Model. 2024-11-5 . .doi: 10.1021/acs.jcim.4c01267
PMID: 39499532Maiuri T, Bazan CB, Harding RJ, Begeja N, Kam TI, Byrne LM, Rodrigues FB, Warner MM, Neuman K, Mansoor M, Badiee M, Dasovich M, Wang K, Thompson LM, Leung AKL, Andres SN, Wild EJ, Dawson TM, Dawson VL, Arrowsmith CH, Truant R
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024-9-27 . 121(40):e2318098121 .doi: 10.1073/pnas.2318098121
PMID: 39331414Fanti R, Ayoubi R, Alende C, Fotouhi M, González Bolívar S, Chandrasekaran R, Southern K, Edwards AM, Harding RJ, Laflamme C
F1000Res. 2024-9-11 . 13:922 .doi: 10.12688/f1000research.153670.1
PMID: 39257448Caba C, Black M, Liu Y, DaDalt AA, Mallare J, Fan L, Harding RJ, Wang Y, Vacratsis PO, Huang R, Zhuang Z, Tong Y
J Biol Chem. 2024-8-28 . 107727 .doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107727
PMID: 39214302Yadav M, Harding RJ, Li T, Xu X, Gall-Duncan T, Khan M, Bardile CF, Sequiera GL, Duan S, Chandrasekaran R, Pan A, Bu J, Yamazaki T, Hirose T, Prinos P, Tippett L, Turner C, Curtis MA, Faull RLM, Pouladi MA, Pearson CE, He HH, Arrowsmith CH
Sci Adv. 2024-7-19 . 10(29):eado5264 .doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ado5264
PMID: 39028820Eguida M, Bret G, Sindt F, Li F, Chau I, Ackloo S, Arrowsmith C, Bolotokova A, Ghiabi P, Gibson E, Halabelian L, Houliston S, Harding RJ, Hutchinson A, Loppnau P, Perveen S, Seitova A, Zeng H, Schapira M, Rognan D
J Chem Inf Model. 2024-6-25 . .doi: 10.1021/acs.jcim.4c00601
PMID: 38916159Schapira M, Halabelian L, Arrowsmith CH, Harding RJ
Nat Chem Biol. 2024-3-8 . .doi: 10.1038/s41589-024-01570-z
PMID: 38459278Mann MK, Wolf E, Silva M, Kwak HA, Wilson B, Bolotokova A, Wilson DJ, Harding RJ, Schapira M
ACS Omega. 2024-1-9 . 9(1):917-924 .doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c07070
PMID: 38222562Gall-Duncan T, Luo J, Jurkovic CM, Fischer LA, Fujita K, Deshmukh AL, Harding RJ, Tran S, Mehkary M, Li V, Leib DE, Chen R, Tanaka H, Mason AG, Lévesque D, Khan M, Razzaghi M, Prasolava T, Lanni S, Sato N, Caron MC, Panigrahi GB, Wang P, Lau R, Castel AL, Masson JY, Tippett L, Turner C, Spies M, La Spada AR, Campos EI, Curtis MA, Boisvert FM, Faull RLM, Davidson BL, Nakamori M, Okazawa H, Wold MS, Pearson CE
Cell. 2023-10-5 . .doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.09.008
PMID: 37827155