A University of Montana graduate student is helping develop a new approach to treating osteoporosis, a bone-loss condition that affects roughly one in three women and one in five men worldwide.

What this means for you
MontanaA UM graduate student's research adds to the university's profile in translational medicine and pharmaceutical sciences — a field the state has invested in growing through CTM-ART. The work itself was conducted partly in France, but the research is based at UM in Missoula and the degree and any follow-on work are tied to Montana's research ecosystem.
Missoula CountyThe research originates at the University of Montana in Missoula, where CTM-ART is housed.
MissoulaUM's Center for Translational Medicine Adjuvant Research Team is the institutional home for this work.
Watch nextBuchholz expects to defend and graduate with her Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences this fall 2025 semester.

Annie Buchholz, a doctoral candidate in pharmaceutical sciences and drug design at UM's Center for Translational Medicine Adjuvant Research Team (CTM-ART), spent time studying in France after earning the Chateaubriand Fellowship — a competitive grant offered by the Embassy of France to American Ph.D. students. She was encouraged to apply by her mentor, Dr. Asia Riel, who had earned the same fellowship in 2017.

In France, Buchholz worked with Dr. Chiara Zanato and the BioCIS research group at CY Cergy Paris Université on a molecular approach to osteoporosis that goes beyond what existing drugs do.

The condition is linked to an overactive enzyme called Cathepsin K (CatK). Earlier drugs were designed to inhibit CatK — essentially blocking its activity. Buchholz and the BioCIS team worked on a different class of molecules called Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras, or PROTACs, which are designed to eliminate CatK from the body entirely rather than just slow it down.

"A single atom can make or break the effectiveness of a drug," Buchholz said, "and having the opportunity to understand and control that chemistry is deeply fulfilling, especially in the context of improving human health."

Buchholz's path to drug discovery was not a straight line. She started as a biology major and worked as an undergraduate in a virology lab studying influenza and Nipah viruses. It was an encounter with medicinal chemistry that redirected her focus toward drug design.

Her grandmother, a UM alumna who earned a microbiology degree in 1947 — at a time when few women pursued science careers — was an early influence.

CTM-ART operates as an industry-style academic lab, mirroring the drug development process used in the private biotechnology sector. Research spans immunology, drug formulation, and medicinal chemistry, with a stated goal of moving lab discoveries into clinical applications.

Buchholz plans to complete her Ph.D. this fall. She said her goal is to join a team focused on drug development and discovery.