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.
Dr. Vadim Gurvich of the Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development is the principal investigator on a newly-awarded $647,667 National Institutes of Health contract for the development of a next-generation antidepressant. The work will be carried out in collaboration with Purdue University and a private company.
Dr. Jonathan L. Vennerstrom, an alumnus of the Medicinal Chemistry graduate program, has been awarded the American Chemical Society's 2019 Award for Creative Invention. Dr. Vennerstrom received his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in 1985 with Dr. Thomas Holmes as his thesis advisor. He is now a Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. ACS Award recipients will be honored at the 257th ACS National Meeting in Orlando, FL on April 2nd, 2019.
Congratulations to Katlyn Fleming of the Haskell-Luevano Lab, who was awarded the 2018-2019 Rowell Graduate Fellowship! The fellowship was established by the family of pharmaceutical industrialist Theodore H. Rowell to support graduate students in the pharmaceutical sciences with an emphasis on drug delivery systems.
Congratulations to Sara Coulup (Georg Lab) and Jian Tang (Harki Lab), who were both selected to receive the 2018-2019 Bighley Graduate Fellowship! The fellowship was established in 2008 by Dr. Lyle D. Bighley and Sharon Bighley as a way to support graduate students working in the biomedical health sciences. It recognizes excellence in students conducting research in laboratories with an emphasis on collaborative and interdisciplinary work.
Pages
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.