17th Annual Stauffer Lectureship (Day 2 of 2): Professor Erick M. Carreira
About the Seminar:
"Synthesis and the Drug Discovery Process"
The talk will include a discussion of how the power of chemical synthesis may be harnessed to provide access to novel regions of chemical space populated by molecules with significant potential and benefits for the drug discovery process. Key to working in this area is selection of target structures with special attention to physicochemical and pharmacological properties, including inter alia aqueous solubility, log P (log D), metabolic liability, amphipilicity. The work will also describe how recent novel building blocks we have developed are finding wide applications in drug development process.
About the Speaker:
Erick M. Carreira obtained a B.S. degree in 1984 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the supervision of Scott E. Denmark and a Ph.D. degree in 1990 from Harvard University under the supervision of David A. Evans. After carrying out postdoctoral work with Peter Dervan at the California Institute of Technology through late 1992, he joined the faculty at the same institution as an assistant professor of chemistry and subsequently was promoted to the rank of associate professor of chemistry in the Spring of 1996, and full Professor in Spring 1997. He is the recipient of the American Chemical Society Award in Pure Chemistry, Nobel Laureate Signature Award, Fresenius Award, a David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship in Science, Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award, Merck Young Investigator Award, Eli Lilly Young Investigator Award, Pfizer Research Award, National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Arnold and Mabel Beckman Young Investigator Award, and a Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award. He is also the recipient of the Associated Students of the California Institute of Technology Annual Award in Teaching and a Richard M. Badger Award in Teaching.
His research program focuses on the asymmetric synthesis of biologically active, stereochemically complex, natural products. Target molecules are selected which pose unique challenges in asymmetric bond construction. A complex multistep synthesis endeavor provides a goal-oriented setting within which to engage in reaction innovation and design. Drawing from the areas of organometallic chemistry, coordination chemistry, and molecular recognition, Carreira's group is developing catalytic and stoichiometric reagents for asymmetric stereocontrol, including chiral Lewis acids and transition-metal based reductants.