Medicinal Chemistry
A diverse education in chemistry and biology that prepares students for the evolving multidisciplinary research of the pharmaceutical industry and academia.
Medicinal Chemistry
Medicinal Chemistry is a dynamic, multifaceted scientific discipline that is dedicated to the improvement of human health through research that leads to the design and development of safe and effective therapeutic, diagnostic, and environmental agents.
Research Areas
Biosafety/ biosecurity, cancer and neurological drug discovery, chemical neuroscience, chemoprevention and carcinogenesis, combinatorial biosynthesis, computer-aided drug design, drug metabolism, gene therapy, high-throughput screening, immunology, NMR, non-hormonal contraception, peptidomimetics and X-ray crystallography.
Faculty Spotlight: Courtney Aldrich
Dr. Aldrich received a $3.8 million NIH grant for the project "Siderophore Inhibitors for Tuberculosis that Block Mycobactin Biosynthesis" on which he is the sole PI. Also, his collaborative research was the focus of a LA times article.
Faculty Spotlight: Natalia Tretyakova
Dr. Natalia Tretyakova has been named a Distinguished McKnight University Professor.
Faculty Spotlight: Gunda Georg
Dr. Gunda Georg’s research towards male contraceptives was featured on several broadcast news outlets including the front page of the Star Tribune.
Institute for Therapeutics Discovery & Development
The ITDD carries out interdisciplinary research, helps educate the next generation of scientists, and enhances the biomedical research infrastructure by creating opportunities for drug discovery and early pre-clinical drug development.
Congratulations to Drs. Philip Portoghese and Eyup Akgun, who were granted a patent in 2018 for their invention that provides analgesic conjugates useful for treating inflammatory pain associated with conditions like cancer, serious burns, and spinal injury. Click here to view their patent, "Highly Potent Analgesics for Inflammatory Pain."
Congratulations to Jian Tang of the Harki Lab who received a Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) Horizon Award! The award is a mentored training award for predoctoral trainees with a focus on promoting high-impact cancer research. The grant will fund Jian's research and supplies for his project “Targeting NF-kappaB-Inducing Kinase (NIK) for the Treatment of Hematologic Malignancies” for the next two years.
An opinion piece written by Emeritus Dean Dr. Marilyn Speedie has been published in the Star Tribune contending that pharmacists are an underutilized resource in the fight against rising prescription drug costs.
Congratulations to Dr. Michael Walters of the ITDD who was awarded a 5-year R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health with co-PI Dr. Karen Ashe (Neurology) for their project titled “Caspase-2 Probe Compounds.”
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Research Facilities
Make use of the Department's over 30,000 square feet of modern research laboratory space located within the Academic Health Center and the Biomedical Discovery District. Read more about our instrumentation, laboratories, facilities and faculty research.
Events
Student Spotlight: Sara Coulup
Sara Coulup wins the best oral presentation at MIKI 2018.
Student Spotlight: Alex Strom
Alex Strom was awarded the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education Pre-Doctoral Fellowship.