Rate My Professor Michael Cascio

Michael Cascio, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Duquesne University’s School of Science and Engineering. He earned his B.A. in Chemistry and Biology from Cornell University, followed by an M.A. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from Columbia University. After completing postdoctoral research at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, and Yale University, focusing on the mechanisms of ion channels, he joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 1994. There, he taught and conducted research for 15 years before transitioning to Duquesne University to continue his studies on membrane proteins.

Dr. Cascio’s research interests encompass membrane biophysics, signal transduction, lipids and bilayers, crosslinking mass spectrometry, and ion channels and transporters. His laboratory employs advanced biotechnological methods to produce and analyze brain receptors and channels, utilizing techniques such as circular dichroism spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and chemical modifications to elucidate protein structures and functions. He investigates how lipid composition in cell membranes influences protein behavior. Notable publications include “Effects of membrane lipids on ion channel structure and function” (Tillman and Cascio, 2003, Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics), “Structure and function of the glycine receptor and related nicotinicoid receptors” (Cascio, 2004, Journal of Biological Chemistry), “Cross-Linking-Mass Spectrometry Studies of Cholesterol Interactions with Human α1 Glycine Receptor” (Ferraro and Cascio, 2018, Analytical Chemistry), and “Structural Studies of the Human α₁ Glycine Receptor via Site-Specific Chemical Cross-Linking Coupled with Mass Spectrometry” (Veeramachaneni et al., 2024, Biophysical Reports). Additionally, he co-holds U.S. Patent No. 8,957,036 for “Targeted Delivery of Glycine Receptors to Excitable Cells,” issued in 2015.