The Molecular Medicine (Small Molecule Science) Platform is a fusion of medicinal chemistry, natural products chemistry, Traditional Chinese Medicine and pharmaceutical analysis. While each of these areas has its own identity and interests, the platform concept recognizes that there are many reasons for overlap between the areas, and these overlapping interests represent opportunities for collaborative research, leveraging the strengths of each discipline to build a discovery program that is greater than the sum of its parts. Modern research is inherently collaborative, so it is essential that we create a research environment that stimulates collaboration among a variety of scientists, allowing our students to learn how best to leverage the skills and knowledge of their colleagues and teachers to help solve their own research problems.
Nature is a rich source of novel molecules possessing complex biological activities. Most drugs used in Western medicine are either naturally occurring or are based on a natural product. The natural product chemist typically isolates interesting molecules having a biological activity and then identifies their chemical structure using a variety of spectroscopic and chemical methods. The medicinal chemist may then take such a lead structure, and synthesize it and related compounds to define the relationship between biological activity and structural features of the molecule. This structure-activity relationship (SAR) can be further refined via modular or combinatorial synthesis of libraries of closely related compounds, eventually leading to a drug candidate compound. The integration of Traditional Chinese Medicine into what could be described as a Western drug discovery program is an interesting and exciting opportunity. Most of the world’s population relies on some form of traditional medicine for their healthcare needs. While there is ample evidence that many traditional medical practices are effective in treating diseases, many in the West still consider them to be primitive and inferior to Western “modern” medicine. This misperception stems from the fact that science simply does not understand how or why traditional medicines work. Using the tools of natural products chemistry and modern analytical chemistry to study TCM will help us to understand the molecular basis of these useful and effective treatments. The Molecular Medicine Platform is a fusion of the various chemical disciplines involved in pharmaceutical research and development. In order to be a real drug discovery program, we rely on collaborations with the other, more biologically or biochemically focused platforms to develop and explore the pharmacologic targets that make chemistry relevant to treating disease.
The Molecular Medicine (Small Molecule Science) Platform is a fusion of medicinal chemistry, natural products chemistry, Traditional Chinese Medicine and pharmaceutical analysis. While each of these areas has its own identity and interests, the platform concept recognizes that there are many reasons for overlap between the areas, and these overlapping interests represent opportunities for collaborative research, leveraging the strengths of each discipline to build a discovery program that is greater than the sum of its parts. Modern research is inherently collaborative, so it is essential that we create a research environment that stimulates collaboration among a variety of scientists, allowing our students to learn how best to leverage the skills and knowledge of their colleagues and teachers to help solve their own research problems.
Nature is a rich source of novel molecules possessing complex biological activities. Most drugs used in Western medicine are either naturally occurring or are based on a natural product. The natural product chemist typically isolates interesting molecules having a biological activity and then identifies their chemical structure using a variety of spectroscopic and chemical methods. The medicinal chemist may then take such a lead structure, and synthesize it and related compounds to define the relationship between biological activity and structural features of the molecule. This structure-activity relationship (SAR) can be further refined via modular or combinatorial synthesis of libraries of closely related compounds, eventually leading to a drug candidate compound. The integration of Traditional Chinese Medicine into what could be described as a Western drug discovery program is an interesting and exciting opportunity. Most of the world’s population relies on some form of traditional medicine for their healthcare needs. While there is ample evidence that many traditional medical practices are effective in treating diseases, many in the West still consider them to be primitive and inferior to Western “modern” medicine. This misperception stems from the fact that science simply does not understand how or why traditional medicines work. Using the tools of natural products chemistry and modern analytical chemistry to study TCM will help us to understand the molecular basis of these useful and effective treatments. The Molecular Medicine Platform is a fusion of the various chemical disciplines involved in pharmaceutical research and development. In order to be a real drug discovery program, we rely on collaborations with the other, more biologically or biochemically focused platforms to develop and explore the pharmacologic targets that make chemistry relevant to treating disease.
