Dr. Carston R. Wagner Elected Member-at-Large of AAAS Section on Pharmaceutical Sciences

Dr. Carston R. Wagner was elected as a Member-at-Large of the AAAS Section on Pharmaceutical Sciences. His four-year term starts Feb. 21, 2017. He joins Gunda Georg who is also serving as a Member-at-Large of this section. With this new election, half of the Members-at-Large are from the Department of  Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Minnesota. 

Georg Lab Research Featured in "5 Most Fascinating Medical Innovations of 2016" News Article

Georg lab research featured in "5 most fascinating medical innovations of 2016, from male birth control to obliterating breast cancer tumors." Medical Daily

Dr. Stephen Hecht Quoted in News Article

Dr. Stephen Hecht was recently quoted in news article, "Life lessons: people under 35 say e-cigs are safer." WFMZ-TV, The Epoch Times

Taito O. Soine Lecture Awarded to Dr. Judy L. Bolton

Congratulations to Dr. Judy L. Bolton (University of Illinois at Chicago) who recently presented the Taito O. Soine Lecture in Medicinal Chemistry. The Taito O. Soine Lecture in Medicinal Chemistry has been established to recognize scientists who have made outstanding contributions to medicinal and natural products chemistry.

More information on the Taito O. Soine Lecture can be found on the Medicinal Chemistry Department website.

Dr. Gunda Georg Quoted in News Article

Dr. Gunda Georg was recently quoted in an article titled "Why we still don't have birth control drugs for men" published in the MIT Technology Review.

Dr. Michael Walters Quoted in News Article

Mike Walters is quoted in the Minnesota Daily story, "University researchers identify target for potential Alzheimer's treatments." 

Medicinal Chemistry Alum Receives International Recognition

Dr. Sana'a Bardaweel, a University of Minnesota Medicinal Chemistry alum, was recently recognized as one of the University of Jordan's most internationally published researchers.  

Read the full article here: http://ujnews2.ju.edu.jo/Lists/News/Disp_FormNews1.aspx?ID=7845

Read the full list of researchers here: http://ju.edu.jo/Lists/Ranking/Disp_form.aspx?ID=63

Congratulations to Medicinal Chemistry Faculty Receiving Grant Funding

The following Medicinal Chemistry faculty recently received grant funding:

AHC (Academic Health Center) Faculty Research Development Grant Funding:

• Dr. Barry Finzel received $167,000 for his project, "Bivalent conjugates for Inhibition of CD44."
• Dr. Philip Portoghese received $193,078 for his project, "Developing new therapies for neuropathic pain during multiple sclerosis."
• Dr. Natalia Tretyakova received $200,000 for her project, "UHRF2 control of 5hmC homeostasis and differentiation in retinal progenitor cells."

National Cancer Institute (NCI) Grant Funding:

• Dr. Natalia Tretyakova is part of a group that received NCI funding for the project, "Mechanisms of Ethnic/Racial Differences in Lung Cancer Due to Cigarette Smoking." The principal investigator is Dr. Steven Hecht and the project involves the U of M, the U of Hawaii and ESC.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Funding:

• Jon Hawkinson, Director of the ITDD Highthrougput Screening Laboratory, received an NIH shared instrumentation award in the amount of $343,887. The plasmon resonance (SPR) instrument will allow researchers at the University of Minnesota to directly determine the affinity of antibodies and small molecule probes and drugs for receptors, and to measure protein-protein interactions.  The exquisite sensitivity of this SPR instrument will allow the detection of very small mass changes in small molecule drug discovery applications, such as fragment-based screening.   This instrument will directly impact research in diverse therapeutic areas, including contraception, anti-infectives, metabolic disease, neuroscience, and cancer, as well as basic biology research.

Philip S. Portoghese Distinguished Lecture Awarded to Dr. Lawrence J. Marnett

Congratulations to Dr. Lawrence J. Marnett (Vanderbilt University) who recently presented the Medicinal Chemistry Philip S. Portoghese Distinguished Lecture. The Philip S. Portoghese Distinguished Lecture in Medicinal Chemistry has been established to recognize scientists who have made outstanding contributions to medicinal chemistry.

More information on the Philip S. Portoghese Distinguished Lecture can be found on the Medicinal Chemistry Department website.

Dr. Vadim Gurvich Quoted in News Article

Vadim Gurvich is quoted in the Business Wire story, "LIU Pharmacy Joins the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education (NIPTE)." 

Philip Portoghese Award Presented at ACS National Meeting

The Philip Portoghese Award was presented to Amy Newman (National Institute of Health) at the American Chemical Society National Meeting in August 2016.

Read more about the Philip Portoghese Award here: https://www.acsmedchem.org/?nd=portogheseaward

Congratulations to Arnie Groehler

Arnie Groehler, a fifth year Medicinal Chemistry student in the Tretyakova Laboratory, received the
"Best Graduate Student Oral Presentation" award from the ACS division of Chemical Toxicology. This was the only award of its kind granted at the 252nd American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition in Philadelphia in August 2016.

Welcome to Annie Howarth & Sarah Comfort

Welcome to our two new staff members, Sarah Comfort and Annie Howarth! Both Sarah and Annie join the Medicinal Chemistry Department as Executive Office and Administrative Specialists. 

Dr. Vadim Gurvich Awarded Funding for Grants

Vadim Gurvich received a $137,588 SBIR grant for the project, "Development of a non-addictive analgesic targeting opioid receptor heteromers." 

Dr. Gurvich also received a $43,677 contract from NIDA for the project, "(-)-Phenserine Tartrate Purification, Encapsulation, & Testing Support Services."

Dr. David Ferguson Quoted in News Article

Dr. David Ferguson is quoted in the Thrillist story, "All the Drugs Banned at the Olympics, and What They Do." 

Dr. Gunda Georg featured in News Story

Gunda Georg is featured in the ACS story, "In the Lab with Gunda Georg."

Findings established by Dr. Courtney Aldrich published in Organic Chemistry Portal

Findings established by Dr. Courtney Aldrich were recently published in Organic Chemistry Portal. Link below.

http://www.organic-chemistry.org/Highlights/2016/30May.shtm

Congratulations to Kimberly Maize

Kimberly Maize has been been awarded a Young Scientist Travel award by the American Crystallographic Association to support her participation in their annual meeting in Denver (July 22-26, 2016).

Her Abstract "Understanding hHint1-mediated Prodrug Activation" has also been selected for podium presentation as part of the Margaret C. Etter Early Career Symposium spotlighting scientific accomplishment of young scientists at the same meeting in Denver. Margaret Etter was a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota until her passing in 1992.

Dr. Gunda Georg Quoted in News Story

Gunda Georg is featured in the Irish Examiner story, "POLL: Are men ready to take the contraceptive pill responsibly?"

Congratulations to Dr. Daniel Harki

Congratulations to Dr. Daniel Harki on his promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure!

New Grant Awarded to Dr. Daniel Harki

Dan Harki received a $81,309 grant award from the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance for his project, "Stopping Enzyme-Catalyzed Ovarian Cancer Evolution."

Dr. Gunda Georg featured in News Article

Dr. Gunda Georg is featured in The Times of India story, "The male contraceptive: so near yet so far." 

Congratulations to Dillon Diering

Dillon Diering, an undergraduate student in the Georg Laboratory, was awarded an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) stipend for project "CatSper as Target for Male Contraceptives."

Congratulations to Cody Lensing

Congratulations to Cody Lensing, a Medicinal Chemistry graduate student in the Haskell-Leuvano laboratory, who was awarded a 2016-2017 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship.

Congratulations to Sara Coulup

Congratulations to Sara Coulup, recipient of a 2016-2017 Pre-Doctoral Fellowship in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education.

New Grant Awarded to Dr. Daniel Harki

Congratulations to Dan Harki, who is a co-investigator on a new four year, $2.12M NIH (NIGMS) R01 grant for the project, "APOBEC3 Structural Studies." Reuben Harris and Hideki Aihara are co-PIs.

Funding Awarded to Dr. Sunil David

Congratulations to Sunil David who received $400,000 in supplemental funding for his project, "Development of Zika Virus-specific Serodiagnostic Immunoassays and Evaluation of Zika Virus Env-derived Antigens for Subunit Vaccines."

Congratulations to Jordan Baur, Caitlin Puro, & Hannah Skopec

Congratulations to the following Harki lab students for winning the following summer research awards:

• Jordan Baur: Heisig/Gleysteen Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, UMN Chemistry

• Caitlin Puro: Heisig/Gleysteen Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, UMN Chemistry - declined; DAAD award for research in Germany Summer 2016

• Hannah Skopec: Melendy/Peters' Summer Research Scholarship, UMN Pharmacy

Jillian Kyzer Quoted in News Article

Jillian Kyzer, a Medicinal Chemistry graduate student in the Georg laboratory, was recently quoted in a news article regarding progress made on developing a male contraceptive drug.

Find the full article here: http://mentalfloss.com/article/77887/scientists-move-one-step-closer-male-birth-control-pill 

Congratulations to Ellie Hofer & Stephanie Breunig

Congratulations to two of our students who received awards from the 2015 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program: Ellie Hofer (Medicinal Chemistry graduate student in Wagner laboratory) - Awardee; and Stephanie Breunig (Chemistry undergraduate student in Harki laboratory) - Honorable Mention. 

New Drug for Pancreatic Cancer Takes the Stage for Clinical Trials

Dr. Gunda Georg is featured in a Masonic Cancer Center Article which discusses Minnelide, an investigational drug for pancreatic cancer patients. Minnelide is now entering a Phase IA clinical trial at the University of Minnesota.

Read the full story here: https://give.umn.edu/stories/curtain 

Mark Ericson Awarded Three-Year NIH NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship

Congratulations to Mark Ericson, a postdoctoral fellow in the Haskell-Luevano laboratoray in Medicinal Chemistry, who has been awarded a prestigious three-year NIH NRSA postdoctoral fellowship for his project, "Molecular Probes of AGRP for Drug Discovery." He received a "perfect" score on his application which is extremely rare and distinctive. 

Congratulations to Mark Ericson

Please join us in congratulating Mark Ericson, an NIH postdoctoral fellow in the Haskell-Luevano laboratory, who was awarded the 2016 Robert M. Scarborough Graduate/Postgraduate Award for Excellence in Medicinal Chemistry. Along with the award recognition, Mark will also receive a commemorative plaque, an honorarium, and a travel award to attend the Fall National ACS Meeting where Mark will deliver an oral presentation during the MEDI Awards Session.

Vadim Gurvich Featured in Business Wire Story

Vadim Gurvich is featured in the BusinessWire story, "NIPTE Announces New President and Executive Director, Addition of University of Texas." 

Gunda Georg Quoted in News Articles

Gunda Georg is quoted in the following stories on getting closer to a birth control pill for men: Newsweek, New York Daily News, Medical News Today, Evening Standard, Daily Mail, International Business Times (UK) and The Australian.  

Georg and her colleagues also presented their findings during the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) 251st annual meeting and exposition. 


More than 100 media outlets, including Mic.com (New York, NY: 11.4 million unique monthly visits), Newsweek (U.S.: 4.8 million unique monthly visits), Daily Express (London, U.K.: 4.0 million unique monthly visits), Tech Times (New York, NY: 15.6 million unique monthly visits), RedOrbit (Dallas, TX: 7.6 million unique monthly visits), Vice (U.S.: 7.3 million unique monthly visits), News Medical (Sydney, Australia: 6.5 million unique monthly visits), The Sun (London, U.K.: 2.9 million unique monthly visits), El Mercurio (Santiago, Chile: 2.4 million unique monthly visits), The Times (London, U.K.: 465,900 unique monthly visits), The Australian (296,300 unique monthly visits), ABP Live (Mumbai, India: 228,600 unique monthly visits), Joe.ie (Dublin, Ireland: 111,800 unique monthly visits), Joe.co.uk (U.K.: 66,100 unique monthly visits), Jewish Business News (Tel Aviv, Israel: 46,900 unique monthly visits), and The Hans India (Hyderabad, India: 35,200 unique monthly visits) covered the story.

Gunda Georg is featured in the University of Minnesota Foundation story, "Curtain up: A new drug for pancreatic cancer takes the stage for clinical trials, thanks to the Masonic Cancer Center experts who developed it."  Dr. Georg is also featured in the Bath Chronicle story, "A birth control pill for men is on its way and it's going to change everything." 

Gunda Georg is featured in the Care2 story, "Coming Soon: More Birth Control Options for Men."

Congratulations Kimberly Maize

Congratulations to Kimberly Maize, who was selected to receive the 2016 Abul-Hajj/Hanna Exceptional Graduate Student Award.

Recent ACS Chemical Biology Journal Publication - Narrated by Erick Carlson (Graduate student, Georg Lab)

Erick Carlson, a graduate  student in the Georg laboratory narrates a slide show about a recent l publication in the journal: ACS Chemical Biology.  

• Manuscript ID: cb-2015-007483
• Title: "The Fungal Sexual Pheromone Sirenin Activates the Human CatSper Channel Complex"
• Author(s): Shameem Sultana Syeda, Erick J. Carlson, Melissa R. Miller, Rawle Francis, David E. Clapham, Polina V. Lishko, Jon E. Hawkinson, Derek Hook, Gunda I. Georg 

You can view the presentation via this link: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/acschembio.5b00748 

Congratulations to Sara Coulup

Sara Coulup, a Medicinal Chemistry graduate student, has been awarded a 3-year NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Fellowship.

Congratulations Kimberly Maize & Joseph Buonomo

Kimberly Maize and Joseph Buonomo, Medicinal Chemistry graduate students, are two of four Bighley Graduate Fellowship Award Winners for 2015-2016

William C.K. Pomerantz named Cottrell Scholar for 2016

Congratulations to Assistant Professor William C. K. Pomerantz. He is one of 24 professors from across the country to be admitted into the Cottrell Scholar program for 2016, and plans to use this award for an initiative entitled, "Fluorinated Peptides and Proteins for 19F MRI and Integrated research Experiences in an Organic Chemistry Lab Course"

William C.K. Pomerantz awarded McKnight Land Grant for 2016-18

Congratulations to Assistant Professor William C. K. Pomerantz. He is one of eight faculty members at the University of Minnesota to have been named McKnight Land Grant Professors for 2016-18.

Erin Carlson Named PECASE Award Recipient

Congratulations to Professor Erin Carlson. She is one 106 researchers honored as a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers. This prestigious award honors scientists for their pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and their commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, or community outreach. Erin was nominated for this award by the National Science Foundation for her discovery of chemistry underlying a new approach to treat antibiotic-resistant infections, for leadership in the chemistry and women-chemists communities, and for developing new hands-on laboratory activities to engage K-12 students in natural product chemistry.  Read more

NIPTE and Sun Pharma: Training programs in QbD and engineering

The National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education has reached an agreement with Sun Pharma for $805,000 to create training programs in QbD and engineering. The agreement is in large part due to the work of Vadim Gurvich. The collaboration will be led by an executive committee, led by Raj Suryanarayanan, that will include representatives from both NIPTE and Sun Pharma.