About

Dr. James Barrow is a Professor of Pharmacology at Johns Hopkins University and Senior Investigator and Director of the Drug Discovery Division at the Lieber Institute. Dr. Barrow has 14 years of industrial experience in drug discovery research at Merck Research Laboratories and held many leadership roles before coming to the Lieber Institute in 2010. He has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles, reviews, and book chapters dealing with organic synthesis and drug discovery, most for central nervous system disorders, as well as 36 issued patents. He was part of development teams at Merck that brought new chemical entities through toxicology studies and into Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. At the Lieber Institute, he has continued to lead drug discovery teams looking for treatments of psychiatric disorders, resulting in several programs out-licensed to biopharmaceutical companies. Dr. Barrow received a B.S. in chemistry from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, graduating with highest honors and highest distinction. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University, working in the laboratory of Professor David A. Evans.

Selected Publications

Su, Y., DePasquale, M., Liao, G., Buchler, I., Zhang, G., Byers, S., Carr, G.V., Barrow, J. and Wei, H., Membrane bound catechol-O-methytransferase is the dominant isoform for dopamine metabolism in PC12 cells and rat brain. European Journal of Pharmacology, 2021, 896, 173909 Dorado TE, de León P, Begum A, Liu H, Chen D, Rajeshkumar NV, Rey-Rodriguez R, Hoareau-Aveilla C, Alcouffe C, Laiho M, Barrow JC. Discovery and Evaluation of Novel Angular Fused Pyridoquinazolinonecarboxamides as RNA Polymerase I Inhibitors. ACS Med Chem Lett. 2022;13,608. Mukherjee, S., Chakraborty, M., Haubner, J., Ernst, G., DePasquale, M., Carpenter, D., Barrow, J.C. and Chakraborty, A. The IP6K Inhibitor LI-2242 Ameliorates Diet-Induced Obesity, Hyperglycemia, and Hepatic Steatosis in Mice by Improving Cell Metabolism and Insulin Signaling. Biomolecules, 2023, 13(5), 868. Heitmann T, Liao G, Ernst G, Poslusney M, van Kralingen T, Li Y, Masi M, DePasquale M, Buchler I, Wei H, Carr GV, Shlevkov E, Lu M, Jessen H, Barrow JC. Identification and Characterization of a Blood-Brain Barrier Penetrant Inositol Hexakisphosphate Kinase (IP6K) Inhibitor. J Med Chem. 2024, 67,13639-13665 Poslusney M, Ernst G, Huang Y, Gerlach AC, Chapman ML, Santos S., Barrow JC, Development and characterization of pyridyl carboxamides as potent and highly selective Nav1.8 inhibitors. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2025, 117, 130059  

Team Members