Faculty

• Dr. Longqin Hu (Course coordinator)
  “Drug Discovery, Lead Optimization Approaches, Enzymes, Receptors, Prodrug Design, and Combinatorial Chemistry”
• Dr. Vlad Kholodovych (Rutgers Office of Advanced Research Computing)
  “Computer Aided Drug Design (CADD)”
• Dr. Youyi Peng (Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey)
  “Computer Aided Drug Design (CADD)”

Invited Seminar Speakers

• Applications of Bioisosteres in Drug Design 
  • Dr. Nick Meanwell (Bristol-Myers Squibb)
  • 5:40pm – 7:00pm, PH 288 – Tuesday, January 25, 2022
• Applications of Fluorines in Drug Design 
  • Dr. Nick Meanwell (Bristol-Myers Squibb)
  • 5:40pm – 7:00pm, PH 288 – Tuesday, February 22, 2022
• Metabolic ID and Profiling in Drug Design 
  • Dr. Zhoupeng Zhang (Merck Research Laboratory)
  • 5:40pm – 7:00pm, PH 288 – Thursday, February 24, 2022
• Discovery of Vorapaxar – A New Antiplatelet Agent 
  • Dr. Sam Chackalamannil (Rutgers Med Chem, formerly Merck)
  • 5:40pm – 7:00pm, PH 288 – Tuesday, March 1, 2022
• Design and Discovery of FtsZ-Targeting Compounds as Novel Antibiotics 
  • Dr. Ed LaVoie (Rutgers Med Chem)
  • 5:40pm – 7:00pm, PH 288 – Thursday, March 3, 2022
• Innovative Chemistry Capabilities in Current Drug Discovery Paradigm 
  • Dr. Zhicai Shi (Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson)
  • 5:40pm – 7:00pm, PH 288 – Tuesday, March 8, 2022
• Discovery of an NLRP3 Agonist as an Immune-Oncology Agent
  • Dr. Ashvinkumar Gavai (Bristol-Myers Squibb)
  • 5:40pm – 7:00pm, PH 288 – Tuesday, April 19, 2022
• Discovery of MK-0616, a Novel Orally Active Tricyclic Peptide PCSK9 Inhibitor to Lower LDL Cholesterol 
  • Dr. Blair Wood (Merck Research Laboratory)
  • 5:40pm – 7:00pm, PH 288 – Thursday, April 21, 2022
• Monoclonal, Antibody Drug Conjugates & Peptide Therapeutics
  • Dr. Ray Bakhtiar (Organon & Co)
  • 5:40pm – 7:00pm, PH 288 – Tuesday, April 26, 2022
• Discovery of Small Molecule Direct Inhibitors of Keap1-Nrf2 Protein-Protein Interactions 
  • Dr. Longqin Hu (Rutgers Med Chem)
  • 5:40pm – 7:00pm, PH 288 – Thursday, April 28, 2022

Times and Location

• Tuesdays and Thursdays:  5:40 – 7:00 PM, PH 288

Examinations

• A term paper or minireview, computational project(s) and one exam

Grading

Term paper on a drug target with 5 drug design principles or a minireview article to be published in Med.Chem.Res.	20%
Exam on approaches to drug discovery (analog design), enzymes, receptors, prodrugs, and combinatorial chemistry	40%
Computational project(s)	35%
Class/seminar attendance and participation	5%
Total	100%

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