News and Events

We are pleased to announce that Center for Drug Design member, Professor Zhengqiang Wang, has won the 1st Place Poster Award in the category of "Young Investigator" at the 21st International Conference on Antiviral Research in Montreal, Canada. In addition, he was selected to give an oral "shotgun" presentation to the conference attendees because of this award. The title of the poster and talk was "From RT Inhibitors to RT/IN Dual Inhibitors: A Rational Design".

Once again the CDD participated in the state fair, performing two stage shows on August 30 and staffing a booth in the U of M building on August 31. Visitors learned about drug discovery, looked at molecules in 3D, examined their own cells under a microscope, and even made colored slime!

We thank everyone for visiting and hope to see you all again next year. Pictures from the fair should be available shortly.

CDD Director Robert Vince has been selected as a 2007 inductee into the American Chemical Society's Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame, which recognizes "an overall outstanding contribution to medicinal chemistry through a combination of research, teaching and service".

Courtney Aldrich of the CDD has received an NIH grant to study inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis fatty acid biosynthesis. The bacteria rely on a thick fatty acid barrier to protect themselves from some traditional antibiotics.

Aldrich and his collaborators, Clifton Barry at the NIH and Eric Bennett at the CDD, hope the research will eventually enable development of new drugs to treat TB. The R21 grant totals $275,000 in direct costs over two years.

Fox 9 News in Minneapolis recently interviewed Courtney Aldrich and Rory Remmel about tuberculosis for their report on the quarantine of a man with extensively drug-resistant TB. Dr. Aldrich is leading a team of scientists searching for new drugs to treat TB.

Watch the Fox News story here.

The American Chemical Society has recognized a recent paper by the Center's Courtney Aldrich as a most cited paper for 2006.

Aldrich and his co-workers reported new structure-activity data on a promising lead compound that inhibits the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. They have followed up on this work with several subsequent publications.

The University of Minnesota Center for Drug Design has been awarded a $2.5 million, 5-year grant by the National Institute of Health (NIH) to research antidotes for cyanide poisoning. The study, Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats: Countermeasures Against Cyanide, will be led by Herbert Nagasawa, Ph.D., Robert Vince, Ph.D., and Steve Patterson, Ph.D.

Cyanide poisoning has the potential to be an intentional threat, as a weapon of mass destruction, or an accidental threat, such as laboratory exposure, medical crisis, or smoke inhalation of fire victims. There are currently treatments that can be used to fight cyanide poisoning; however, they are slow acting and can have serious complications. The US Army Medical Research Institute for Chemical Defense says that a "three minute solution" is necessary to effectively intervene in cyanide poisoning. One goal of better treatments is to produce a phophylactic agent that can be taken before the threat of a cyanide attack.

The Center for Drug Design has already developed a series of antidotes that can convert cyanide into a non-toxic substance through the use of a cellular enzyme. These antidotes are quicker than current treatment and can be delivered either orally or intravenously. This study aims to expand the efficiency, bioavailability, and physical properties of these antidotes, seek specific substances to improve the neurological problems for long-term survivors of acute cyanide poisoning, and to begin preclinical studies that will lead to filing an application with the FDA for an Investigational New Drug (IND).

The University of Minnesota recently unveiled the Wall of Discovery, featuring images of key intellectual developments by University faculty and alumni.

The work of CDD founder Robert Vince and his research associate, Mei Hua, is one of the displays on the wall. Vince and Hua worked on the chemical synthesis of carbovir, the first compound in a series of chemicals that led to the discovery of abacavir, now sold as the AIDS treatment Ziagen? by Glaxo SmithKline under a licensing agreement with the University.

The photo shows Vince with University President Robert Bruininks (below) at the unveiling of the Wall.

This year the Center added a stage show, Musical Magical Alchemy, and set up a station for visitors to make their own colored slime. Both additions were a hit with fairgoers, and will likely return next year.

Check out our photos page for pictures from this year's fair!

Dr. Courtney Aldrich of the Center for Drug Design has been awarded a three-year NIH R01 grant in the amount of $600,000. It is entitled Design of Antituberculosis Agents that Target Siderophore Biosynthesis. The grant was ranked in the top two percent of all National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) grants on its first submission.

Dr. Aldrich and his team, including Dr. Eric Bennett of the Center for Drug Design, and Dr. Clifton Barry at the NIH, have recently published their findings on the synthesis of a new class of antibiotics for the treatment of tuberculosis. The grant supports continuing work on these antibiotics and may lead to a new drug for the treatment of multidrug-resistant TB.

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Steven Patterson, in conjunction with Dr. Daniel Billadeau of the Mayo Clinic, has been awarded a Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics grant. The award, $786,000 in direct costs, is for two years.

Drs. Patterson and Billadeau will be researching novel lead compounds that can inhibit pancreatic cancer activity. The title of their project is Combinatorial Based Chemistry and High Throughput Screening Methods to Identify Rac GTPase Inhibitors.

Center for Drug Design scientists and staff greeted Minnesota State Fair visitors at this year's event. Those who stopped by had the opportunity to see some of the exciting advances in our field of research. Participants put on 3D glasses and to view molecules in a specialized computer program, looked through the latest in microscope technology to see cell slides, and found out about the odyssey of a drug from conception to marketplace, including the cost of getting a drug to the public.

People left with Center for Drug Design yo-yos and unique keychain-whistle-flashlight-compass combos, plus information about our Center. We hope to see you all again next year!

Pictures from the fair are now available.

Dr. Krzysztof W. Pankiewicz of the Center for Drug Design has received a grant from the Department of Defense, funding his research on treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia by developing inhibitors specific for Type II IMP Dehydrogenase (IMPDH). In previous work, Dr. Pankiewicz demonstrated the feasiblity of creating IMPDH-specific inhibitor analogs of the common enzyme cofactor NAD, but these molecules inhibited both Type I and Type II IMPDH with similar potency, while only inhibition of Type II is preferable for cancer treatment.

The International Society of Nucleosides, Nucleotides, and Nucleic Acids (IS3NA) held its XVI International Roundtable meeting in Minneapolis from Sept. 12-16, 2004.

The Center for Drug Design hosted a group of 50 high school students, their teachers, and chaperones, from Knoxville, Iowa on November 7, 2003. These students, freshmen through seniors, are active science club members at their school. Part of the club's purpose is to provide a broad view of scientific study in different areas. With this in mind, the trip was planned to visit various centers at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Robert Vince, Director, gave a lively presentation to the students about chemistry and drug design. We hope to host other groups in future, and to continue to offer informative options for budding scientists.

For the first time, the Center for Drug Design had a booth at the Minnesota State Fair. CDD staff were at the fair Friday, August 22, from 9am to 3pm to explain out why the Center is important to you! Visitors picked up a free yo-yo or a tape measure and had the opportunity to ask questions of our scientists and to learn about some of the things we do.

This year, for the first time, the Center for Drug Design was asked to participate in the Mini Medical School program. This six-week course is taught by an interdisciplinary team of specialists from the University of Minnesota. Hundreds of people sign up each year to learn more about new and emerging health-related issues along a broad spectrum of topics.

During the pharmacology session, scientists from the Center for Drug Design explained the two major ways in which drugs are made, through drug discovery and drug design. Drug discovery is the method of using plant material and extracting the active component for medicinal use; the active component can be enhanced to further its effectiveness. In drug design, the researcher actually creates a chemical compound that can be turned into a disease-fighting drug. The compound is very specific in its composition, so that it can attack a certain part of a virus or disease process.

The scientists of the Center for Drug Design had the opportunity to answer questions and explain these processes to the large numbers of people who attended this session. Participants were able to gain a fuller understanding of this important step towards fighting disease and improving health in our world.

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Professor Robert Vince was selected by the White House to meet with President George W. Bush during the President's visit to Minnesota on July 11, 2002. Dr. Vince explained to the President how his research group designed a drug, carbovir, now marketed as Ziagen^TM, for the treatment of AIDS. He also informed President Bush that the University royalties are supporting the newly initiated Center for Drug Design. The President was pleased to see how research funds can be used to discover new therapies which benefit the public, and in turn, generate new funds that are reinvested into research for further important discoveries.