Shepard Awarded Magis Prize for Research on Protein Receptors

(October 2, 2025) — Blythe Shepard, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Human Science in the School of Health, received Georgetown University’s Magis Prize for her research on understudied proteins that may lead to new ways to treat disease.

Now in its second year, the Magis Prize invests in recently promoted professors who are making a significant impact on their fields with $100,000 and two semesters of dedicated time to pursue their scholarship. Awardees also engage with students in their research.

“This is a tremendous honor,” Shepard said. “I honestly could not believe that I received this prize. It is a testament to the mentorship that I have received over the years and the collaborative environment that makes Georgetown an excellent place to teach and research.”

In addition to Shepard, the 2025 recipients of the Magis Prize are Ian Lyons, associate professor in the College of Arts & Sciences, and Andrew Zeitlin, associate professor at McCourt School of Public Policy.

Focusing on Understudied Proteins

Shepard’s research has focused on G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). While more than 20% of all FDA-approved drugs target GPCRs, including GLP-1 receptor agonists like Ozempic, antihistamines, asthma inhalers, and opioids, most GPCRs remain understudied.

With a team of researchers mostly composed of undergraduate students from the School of Health and College of Arts & Sciences, Shepard strives to identify and understand GPCRs with the goal of finding therapeutic targets for disease.

“We are making new connections to health and disease by narrowing in on unexplored ‘druggable’ proteins,” Shepard wrote in her proposal. “By determining where they are found, how they are activated, and what their functions are, we will lay the foundation for developing new treatments to the most pressing diseases.”

Adhesion receptors are a type of GPCR that facilitate adhesion between cells and play a critical part in the initiation of processes including immune response activation and neuron-to-neuron communication. Shepard has spent years studying ADGRA3, an adhesion receptor that is highly expressed in the liver and kidneys.

Evidence suggests that ADGRA3 is involved in maintaining calcium levels and promoting liver repair after injury. In June, Shepard received funding for a Toulmin Pilot Project, an award that supports innovative research with significant potential to attract additional funding in this competitive funding environment, for “Investigation of renal calcium homeostasis: the role of adhesion receptor ADGRA3.”

“Our hope is that we will uncover novel functions that might extend our understanding of liver regeneration that may one day translate into new therapeutics for those with liver damage,” she said.

Dedicated to Teaching

The Magis Prize will also allow Shepard to continue her research alongside undergraduate students, a significant part of the mission in the Department of Human Science and a meaningful aspect of Shepard’s work at Georgetown.

“As a result of this prize, I have been awarded dedicated time to mentor my students and train them how to perform experiments and critically analyze their data,” she said. “Most of my students will go on to become medical doctors, and it is my hope that they will leave Georgetown with the tools to think independently and appreciate the inner workings of the human body.

“The undergraduate students at Georgetown are on par with graduate students that I’ve worked with in previous institutions,” Shepard added. “They are critical thinkers and dive into the published literature to form connections to their work. They are true scientists and are passionate about their research projects.”

Kat Zambon
GUMC Communications