Sewickley, Pennsylvania, United States
Over 20 years of experience in organic synthetic and medicinal chemistry, including roles with the US government (NIH), leading pharmaceutical industry (GSK), and academia. Expertise encompasses cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) allosteric modulator development, anti-cancer therapeutics, and HIV drug discovery. Proven track record of interdisciplinary collaboration to drive innovative research in applied novel drug discovery, with a focus on oncology targets. Developed exceptional skills in multi-step synthesis, small molecule design, problem-solving, team building, and management. Accomplishments include: • • Led a synthetic chemistry team that developed new routes to mid-sized heteroatom-containing ring systems for the development of covalent cysteine modulators. • Led the publication process for several scholarly articles and a book chapter. • Collaborated with team members to synthesize PF-4942847 (300 mg) in over 35 steps and it was submitted to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) repository for further internal study. • Participated in the NIH Education Degree program to obtain a Ph.D. while working at SAIC-Frederick Inc. at the NCI. This was through a partnership between the University of Kansas and the NCI • Synthesized over 150 compounds and discovered drug candidates as C-C chemokine receptor (CCR5) antagonists that were screened internally into the clinic at GlaxoSmithKline. • Led the effort to design and synthesize carbohydrate compounds possessing a pyrrole moiety as a potential anti-cancer inhibitor. Specialties: • Experience in advance organic multi-step synthesis from milligram to multi-gram scale, handling air and moisture sensitive compounds. • 1H & 13C NMR, 2-D NMR (Varian, AC Bruker 400, 500), IR (Perkin Elmer FT), UV spectrophotometer (Beckman). GC (Hewlett-Packard) and LCMS (Agilent), HPLC (Shimadzu, Gilson), ISCO-FC. • Microwave Reactors and Flash Chromatography system. • SciFinder, Reaxys, ChemDraw, ISIS, word processing, Micro Soft Excel, E-NoteBook, EndNote, PowerPoint and Adobe Acrobat
As an Assistant Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, my responsibilities include leading innovative research projects, contributing to the academic and professional development of students, and actively participating in institutional activities. The role involves designing and executing medicinal chemistry projects, mentoring graduate students, and contributing to the school's academic mission.
• Project 1. Synthesis of platinum-based anticancer drugs: Development and optimization of synthetic method to generate cisplatin and oxaliplatin derivatives for animal cancer study. • Project 2. Synthesis of salicylanide analogs for cancer study: Development and discovery of new method for the construction of salicyanide derivatives and biological evaluation for cancer drug development.
Managed multicultural international chemistry group to develop new synthetic methods for translational research in drug discovery and natural products synthesis. • Led and designed several projects such as synthesis of novel β-keto-sultam analogs, vinyl sultams, sultam analogs via domino Heck-aza-Michael (HaM) and 10-membered benzo-fused sultams which were designed as potential electrophilic probes (Michael acceptors). • Mentored 4 graduate students. • Have written and submitted two NIH milestone reports with collaborator. • Led writing a book chapter. Title: Synthesis of P-, S-, Si-, B-, and Se-Heterocycles via Ring-Closing Metathesis. (Cossy et al, Eds). • Led the CRO project to synthesize (2S,3S)-Epicatechin in 17 steps within 2 months. During the process, new Friedel-Craft alkylation method was developed to increase yield up to 94% from low reported yield.
Worked as a synthetic medicinal chemist as a member of a multidisciplinary group of chemists and computational chemist working to develop novel anticancer agents. • Collaborated with MD Anderson Cancer Center and synthesized 40 derivatives of Oncrasin analogs to study antitumor activity in 60 cancer cell line. • Identified 5 sulfamide compounds as potential candidates for anticancer study in NCI-60 cell line screening. • Resynthesized bioactive compounds for investigational drugs to support ongoing and planned projects - PF-04449913, XL-413, and PF-4942847.
Worked as a synthetic organic chemist and was one of the first chemists. Worked to set up the chemistry lab and worked with molecular modeling and chemical biology team for translational research in drug discovery and development. • Independently initiated/planed project and identified novel piperidinyl sulfamide compound as Tdp1 inhibitor. • Actively collaborated with chemical biologists and molecular modeling chemists at NCI for the Gel study and Protein docking study to design Tdp1 inhibitor.