Medicinal Chemistry

The Medicinal Chemistry Department has a strong record of achievement, including the synthesis and discovery of more than 20 compounds that entered clinical trials and six drugs with FDA approval. Our staff currently focuses on three primary therapeutic areas: cancer, anti-infective agents, and CNS/neurological disease. We utilize modern discovery techniques including protein X-ray crystallography, cheminformatics, molecular modeling, parallel synthesis, and high-throughput screening to generate novel therapeutics.

Our discovery initiatives result from collaborations with commercial pharma and through NIH-funded basic research grants and internal research projects. Among grant-funded programs, the Medicinal Chemistry Department has major ongoing projects in the Southeast Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense (SERCEB), the Tuberculosis Antimicrobial Acquisition and Coordinating Facility (TAACF), the NINDS Drug Screening Facility for Neurodegenerative Disease, and the NIH Roadmap Molecular Libraries and Screening Center Network (MLSCN). In addition to these efforts, the Department occasionally undertakes custom synthesis projects, and actively seeks collaborative licensing opportunities for our unique in-house chemical repository

Senior Staff