Graduate Faculty Research Interests

Courtney Aldrich
Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Office Phone: 612-624-7997
Research Interest:
Antibiotics, tuberculosis, synthesis, enzymology
Elizabeth Ambrose headshot
Associate Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Office Phone: 612-626-2387
Research Interest:
Biological and Chemical Warfare Agent Mitigation,BSL-2, BSL-3 and Select Agent Research, Homeland Security, High-Throughput and Fragment Screening, Lead Optimization, Psychiatric Pharmacy and Neuropharmacology
Erin Carlson
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry
Office Phone: 612-625-2580
Research Interest:
Mark Distefano
Distinguished McKnight Professor & Merck Professor, Department of Chemistry
Office Phone: 612-624-0544
Research Interest:
David M. Ferguson
Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Office Phone: 612-626-2601
Research Interest:
Quantum mechanics, molecular mechanics/dynamics, computer graphics techniques, molecular interactions, investigation of inter- and intramolecular interactions to gain insight for drug design and protein engineering
Gunda I. Georg
Regents Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Office Phone: 612-626-6320
Research Interest:
Design, synthesis, and evaluation of synthetic and natural product-derived medicinal agents; drug discovery by HTS; new synthetic methods; combinatorial chemistry. Therapeutic areas: cancer, male contraception, Alzheimer's disease.
Daniel A. Harki
Northrop Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Office Phone: 612-625-8687
Research Interest:
Synthesis, biophysical characterization, and biological efficacy evaluation of novel small molecules that influence cellular function. Applications for these molecules range from anticancer drug discovery to new tools for modern biotechnology research.
Carrie Haskell-Luevano
Professor & Philip S. Portoghese Endowed Chair in Chemical Neuroscience, Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Office Phone: 612-626-9262
Research Interest:
Peptide Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, G-protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR) Pharmacology, Human Receptor Polymorphisms, Neuroscience, Voluntary Exercise of Mice, Obesity, Diabetes, Feeding Behavior
Stephen Hecht
Wallin Land Grant Professor of Cancer Prevention, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology
Office Phone: 612-624-7604
Research Interest:
Mechanism by which carcinogens are metabolically activated and detoxified in humans, cancer prevention, nitosamines, aldehydes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Thomas R. Hoye
Distinguished Professor, College of Science and Engineering
Office Phone: 612-625-1891
Research Interest:
Organic synthesis, natural products, analogs and prodrugs, symmetry concepts, organometallic chemistry,NMR spectroscopy
Valerie Pierre Headshot
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry
Office Phone: 612-625-0921
Research Interest:
William Pomerantz Headshots
Associate Professor McKnight Presidential Fellow McKnight Land Grant Professor, Department of Chemistry
Office Phone: 612-624-9091
Research Interest:
Inhibitor discovery; protein-protein interactions
Philip Portoghese Headshot
Distinguished Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Office Phone: 612-624-9174
Research Interest:
G protein-coupled receptors; molecular recognition; opioid receptors; bivalent ligands; affinity labels
Rory Remmel Headshot
Distinguished Teaching Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Office Phone: 612-624-0472
Research Interest:
Drug metabolism and disposition, evaluation of antiviral drug combinations, metabolic interactions of antiepileptic drugs in the elderly
W Thomas Sheir Headshot
Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Office Phone: 612-624-9465
Research Interest:
Development of novel non-viral vector transfection agents for use in human gene therapy, strategies for eliminating carcinogenic and estrogenic mycotoxins from the human food supply, exploration of the drug potential of betulins and other natural products
Natalia Tretyakova Headshot
Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Office Phone: 612-626-3432
Research Interest:
Structural basis for promutagenic and anticancer activity of DNA-modifying agents, DNA damage by tobacco carcinogens and lung cancer, DNA-DNA and DNA-protein cross-linking agents as carcinogens and drugs,DNA oxidation by endogenous reactive oxygen species
Robert Turesky Headshot
Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Research Interest:
Carston R. Wagner
Distinguished University Teaching Professor and Endowed Chair in Medicinal Chemistry, Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Office Phone: 612-625-2614
Research Interest:
Chemical Biology, design and development of targeted drug delivery approaches, design and study of chemical inducers of protein oligomerization, mechanistic and structural studies of biocatalyis and protein translation