College of Pharmacy
Department Office: 307 L.S. Skaggs Hall
Phone: 801-581-7063
Website: http://pharmacy.utah.edu/medchem
Department Chair: Darrell R. Davis, Ph.D.
Medicinal Chemistry is the branch of chemistry dealing with the design, synthesis, and characterization of biologically active molecules. It is an interdisciplinary science that draws upon organic and physical chemistry, biochemistry, and pharmacology in the definition of research problems of biomedical importance.
Medicinal Chemistry is a major contributor to the professional pharmacy curricula. No bachelor's degree is offered by the department.
Graduate Program
Areas of Specialization
Cell signaling by phosphoinositides, oxidosqualene cyclase inhibitors, and chemical modification of hyaluronic acid for biomaterials and drug delivery. Structure and function of neurotoxic peptides from marine snails. Reactive lipid mediators in cell regulation and mutation role of microtubules in cell signaling. Utilization of genomics and bioinformatics technologies for identifying novel molecular targets for cancer treatment. Study of biochemical signaling pathways that control cell death. NMR studies of protein and nucleic acid structure, the effect of modification on nucleic acid structure. Marine natural products, and mechanism(s) of actions of antitumor marine natural products. Mass spectrometry of nucleic acids. Structure, function and phylogenetic relationships of natural modifications in ribonucleic acids. Use of computational methods for therapeutic design and analysis of biomolecular structure, dynamics and function. Biosynthesis of marine and microbial natural products. Development of molecular biological methods for cloning and engineering of natural product biosynthetic genes from the environment. Chemical Biology of Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans.
Admission Requirements
Three letters of recommendation, GRE scores, statement of professional interests and goals are required.
Language Requirements
No foreign language is required, although computer literacy is expected.