Laura Schnackenberg Ph.D.

Director — Division of Systems Biology

Laura Schnackenberg, Ph.D.
(870) 543-7121
NCTRResearch@fda.hhs.gov

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Background

Dr. Laura Schnackenberg received a B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Arizona and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Following completion of her Ph.D., she was hired as a postdoctoral fellow within the Division of Chemistry at FDA’s National Center for Toxicology Research (NCTR) in the Metabolomics group. In May 2005, she was converted to a staff fellow and in 2007 was converted to a permanent government employee. In 2019, Dr. Schnackenberg became the branch chief of the Innovative Safety and Technologies Group within the Division of Systems Biology. In 2006, Dr. Schnackenberg was part of the FDA Intercenter Renal Biomarkers Group that was recognized with an “NCTR Scientific Achievement Award.” The same group received the “FDA Outstanding Intercenter Scientific Collaboration Award” in 2007 and 2012. She received the “NCTR Outstanding Junior Investigator Award” in 2007. She also received a “Friends of the Department Award” from the Department of Chemistry, University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2010, 2011, and 2013. In 2011, Dr. Schnackenberg was part of the Melamine and Cyanuric Acid Toxicity Investigative Group that received the “FDA Group Recognition Award (Agency Cross-Cutting).” Finally, she received the “FDA Group Recognition Award (Non-Agency Cross-Cutting)” for In Silico Modeling Approaches to Polypharmacy. In 2020, she was part of a group award for FDA Excellence in Laboratory Science related to the work to identify early biomarkers of doxorubicin cardiotoxicity-induced cardiotoxicity. Dr. Schnackenberg has served as chair or co-chair of the NCTR Summer Student Research Program (SSRP) since 2015. In 2021, Dr. Schnackenberg was honored to be named an Arkansas Research Alliance (ARA) Fellow. Dr. Schnackenberg was named Director of Division of Systems Biology in October 2022.

Research Interests

The Innovative Safety and Technologies Branch within the Division of Systems Biology at NCTR employs novel methodologies to evaluate a wide range of problems. In vivo and in vitro methods are being used to evaluate mechanisms of hepatotoxicity and cardiotoxicity. Additionally, novel alternative models including the use of a tissue chip are being developed to determine the utility in predicting drug-induced hepatotoxicity. Ongoing efforts also include the evaluation of individual patient-derived cells to better represent the population heterogeneity and reflect the differential drug responses noted clinically. Other novel alternative models including an engineered heart tissue model are being developed within the Branch. Translational studies are also ongoing to validate biomarkers in a clinical pediatric population of doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity that were identified in a mouse model. The Branch is also exploring the use of mass spectrometry-based technologies to rapidly detect viruses and bacterial pathogens. The technology is also being investigated for its utility in rapidly assessing brand and generic drugs.

Professional Societies/National and International Groups

American Chemical Society
Member
1996 – Present

Metabolomics Society
Member
2005 – Present

Society of Toxicology
Member
2012 – Present

Selected Publications

MALDI Imaging Mass Spectrometry: An Emerging Tool in Neurology.
Schnackenberg L.K., Thorn D.A., Barnette D., and Jones E.E.
Metab Brain Dis. 2021, Online ahead of print. PMID 34347208.

Metabolomics Test Materials for Quality Control: A Study of a Urine Materials Suite.
Bearden D.W., Sheen D.A., Simon-Manso Y., Benner B.A. Jr., Rocha W.F.C., Blonder N., Lippa K.A., Beger R.D., Schnackenberg L.K., Sun J., Mehta K.Y., Cheema A.K., Gu H., Marupaka R., Nagana Gowda G.A., and Raftery D.
Metabolites. 2019, 9(11):270. PMID 31703392.

Stability of the Human Plasma Proteome to Pre-analytical Variability as Assessed by an Aptamer-Based Approach.
Daniels J.R., Cao Z., Maisa M., Schnackenberg L.K., Sun J., Pence L., Schmitt T.C, Kamlage B., Rogstad S., Beger R.D., and Yu L.
J Proteome Res. 2019, 18(10):3661-3670. PMID 31442052.

An Integrated Analysis of Metabolites, Peptides, and Inflammation Biomarkers for Assessment of Preanalytical Variability of Human Plasma.
Cao Z., Kamlage B., Wagner-Golbs A., Maisha M., Sun J., Schnackenberg L.K., Pence L, Schmitt T.C., Daniels J.R., Rogstad S., Beger R.D., and Yu L.
J Proteome Res. 2019, 18(6):2411-2421. PMID 31074987.

Aptamer-Based Proteomics Identifies Mortality-Associated Serum Biomarkers in Dialysis-Dependent AKI Patients.
Yu L.R., Sun J., Cao Z., Schnackenberg L, Choudhury D., Palevsky P.M., Ma J.Z., Beger R.D., and Portilla D.
Kidney Int Rep. 2018, 3(5):1202-1213. PMID 30197987.

Multiple microRNAs Function as Self-Protective Modules in Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Humans.
Yu D., Wu L., Gill P., Tolleson W.H., Chen S., Sun J., Knox B., Jun Y., Xio W., Hong H., Wang Y., Ren Z., Guo L., Mei N., Guo Y., Yang X., Shi L., Chen Y., Zeng L., Dreval K., Tryndyak V., Pogribny I., Fang H., Shi T., McCullough S, Bhattacharyya S., Schnackenberg L, Mattes W, Beger R.D., James L., Tong W., and Ning B.,
Arch Toxicol. 2018, 92(2):845-858. PMID 29067470.

Metabolomics Analysis of Urine Samples from Children after Acetaminophen Overdose.
Schnackenberg L.K., Sun J. Bhattacharyya S., Gill P., James L.P., and Beger R.D.
Metabolites. 2017, 7(3):46. PMID 28878168.

Dose-response Analysis of Epigenetic, Metabolic, and Apical Endpoints after Short-term Exposure to Experimental Hepatotoxicants.
Miousse I.R., Murphy L.A., Lin H., Schisler M.R., Sun J. Chalbot M.G., Sura R., Johnson K., LeBaron M.J., Kavouras I.G., Schnackenberg L.K., Beger R.D., Rasoulpour R.J., and Koturbash I.
Food Chem Toxicol. 2017, 109(Pt 1):690-702. PMID 28495587.

Early Metabolomics Changes in Heart and Plasma During Chronic Doxorubicin Treatment in B6C3F1 Mice.
Schnackenberg L.K., Pence L., Vijay V., Moland C.L., George N., Cao Z., Yu L.R., Fuscoe J.C., Beger R.D., and Desai V.G.
J Appl Toxicol. 2016, 36(11):1486-95. PMID 26934058.

Translational Biomarkers of Acetaminophen-Induced Acute Liver Injury.
Beger R.D., Bhattacharyya S., Yang X., Gill P.S., Schnackenberg L.K., Sun J., and James L.P.
Arch Toxicol. 2015, 89(9):1497-522. PMID 25983262.

Identification of a Metabolic Biomarker Panel in Rats for Prediction of Acute and Idiosyncratic Hepatotoxicity.
Sun J., Slavov S., Schnackenberg L.K., Ando Y., Greenhaw J., Yang X., Salminen W., Mendrick D.L., and Beger R.
Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2014, 10(17):78-89. PMID 25379137.

Metabolomics Evaluation of the Effects of Green Tea Extract on Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Mice.
Lu Y., Sun J., Petrova K., Yang X., Greenhaw J., Salminen W.F., Beger R.D., and Schnackenberg L.K.
Food Chem Toxicol. 2013, 62:707-21. PMID 2480264.

Evaluating Effects of Penicillin Treatment on the Metabolome of Rats.
Sun J., Schnackenberg L.K., Khare S., Yang X., Greenhaw J., Salminen W., Mendrick D.L., and Beger R.D.
J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2013, 932:134-43. PMID 23831706.

Metabolomics Evaluation of Hydroxyproline as a Potential Marker of Melamine and Cyanuric Acid Nephrotoxicity in Male and Female Fischer F344 Rats.
Schnackenberg L.K., Sun J., Pence L.M., Bhattacharyya S., Gamboa da Costa G., and Beger R.D.
Food Chem Toxicol. 2012, 50(11):3978-83. PMID 22902825.

The Liver Toxicity Biomarker Study Phase I: Markers for the Effects of Tolcapone or Entacapone.
McBurney R.N., Hines W.M., VonTungeln L.S., Schnackenberg L.K., Beger R.D., Moland C.L., Han T., Fuscoe J.C., Chang C.W., Chen J.J., Su Z., Fan X.H., Tong W., Booth S.A., Balasubramanian R., Courchesne P.L., Campbell J.M., Graber A., Guo Y., Juhasz P., Li T.Y., Lynch M.D., Morel N.M., Plasterer T.N., Takach E.J., Zeng C., and Beland F.A.
Toxicol Pathol. 2012, 40(6):951-64. PMID 22573522.

¹³C NMR-Distance Matrix Descriptors: Optimal Abstract 3D Space Granularity for Predicting Estrogen Binding.
Slavov S.H., Geesaman E.L., Pearce B.A., Schnackenberg L.K., Buzatu D.A., Wilkes J.G., and Beger R.D.
J Chem Inf Model. 2012, 52(7):1854-64. PMID 22681591.

Serum Metabolomic Profiles from Patients with Acute Kidney Injury: A Pilot Study.
Sun J., Shannon M., Ando Y., Schnackenberg L.K., Khan N.A., Portilla D., and Beger R.D.
J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2012, 893-894:107-13. PMID 22429878.