Medicinal Chemistry News

A grant from the U.S. Department of Defense is allowing investigators to advance enzyme engineering.

The UF College of Pharmacy’s centennial-year edition of Research Showcase put the spotlight on graduate student and trainee research during an action-packed two days in February.

Dr. Hendrik Luesch and a team of researchers have discovered a novel marine natural product that binds to a new site of tubulin, an important target for cancer drugs.

Dr. Chris McCurdy explains how science is attempting to answer safety questions around kratom in this Conversation story.

McCurdy began researching kratom in 2005 and the study represents the first time his team’s kratom research has appeared on a journal cover.

The faculty were recognized for their contributions to the University of Florida, their profession and society.

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences awarded a five-year, $800,500 grant to establish the “Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Program at the University of Florida.”

Robert Huigens, Ph.D., an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry, has re-engineered the structure of vincamine, a plant-derived compound and administered it to mice, successfully reducing their morphine-seeking behaviors. The American Chemical Society featured the study on the May cover of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

Kava’s reputation in preventing cancer just received a boost from the American Association for Cancer Prevention. The May cover of the organization’s flagship journal, Cancer Prevention Research, featured a clinical study on kava led by Chengguo “Chris” Xing, Ph.D., a professor of medicinal chemistry and the Frank A. Duckworth Eminent Scholar Chair at the UF College of Pharmacy.

Alumni and graduate students who worked under Luesch’s mentorship came from across the world to present at the Gordon Research Conference on Marine Natural Products.