Adam Duerfeldt, PhD

Adam obtained a B.A. in Chemistry in 2006 from Central College in Pella, IA then moved to Lawrence, KS to conduct his doctoral research as a Madison and Lila Self Graduate Fellow under the guidance of Professor Brian S. J. Blagg in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Kansas. Adam was awarded the Irsay–Dahle Award as the top graduate student in Medicinal Chemistry at KU for his contributions towards the development of the first selective Grp94 inhibitors.

After obtaining his Ph.D. in 2011, Adam moved to San Diego, CA to conduct postdoctoral studies in the laboratory of Professor Dale L. Boger at The Scripps Research Institute as an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow. While in the Boger laboratory Adam completed the total syntheses of (–)-pyrimidoblamic acid and P-3A, two simplified variants of a clinically utilized anticancer chemotherapeutic agent, Bleomycin. Additionally, while at Scripps, Adam led Boger group collaborations with Bristol-Myers Squibb and the Dana–Farber Cancer Center, which focused on the development of novel duocarmycin antibody drug conjugates.

Adam started his independent career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma in 2014 and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2020. In 2021, Adam joined the Medicinal Chemistry Department at the University of Minnesota where his groups’ research continues to focus on therapeutic discovery for infectious and retinal diseases. 

Adam is a Co-Founder and Executive Board Member of Excitant Therapeutics, a start-up company focusing on the development of small molecule therapies for retinal diseases. 

2020 – ACS MEDI Young Investigator
2017 – University of Oklahoma CBR Professor of the Year (student voted)
2017 – ACS Jack L. Beal Award
2015 – American Cancer Society Special Friend – Researcher Award
2011 – University of Kansas Irsay–Dahle Award

• Agonists of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-Alpha and Methods of Use, AU 2019236215 B2, Issued July 25, 2024
• Agonists of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-Alpha and Methods of Use, CN 112351975 B2, Issued July 16, 2024
• Agonists of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-Alpha and Methods of Use, US 11,447,452 B2, Issued September 20, 2022
• Phenylquinoline Compositions for Treatment of Ocular Disorders and Conditions, US 11,337,968 B2, Issued May 24, 2022
• Grp94 Inhibitors, US 8,685,966 B2, Issued April 1, 2014

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