thesis on medicinal chemistry

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Chemistry Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2024 2024.

The Asymmetric Total Synthesis of Membranolide and Efforts Towards the Oxeatamides , Sean Bradley

Effects of Diminazene Aceturate on Drosophila melanogaster : A Lipidomic Analysis , Gabriela Suarez

The discovery of first RET PROTAC with in vivo activity , Yafeng Wang

Regioselective Hydroamination of Unactivated Olefins with Diazirine and Total Synthesis of Nostodione A and Scytonemin , Qingyu Xing

Introductory Chemistry Student Success: Evaluating Peer-Led Team Learning and Describing Sense of Belonging , Jessica D. Young

Explorations on Non-Covalent Interactions: From Supramolecules to Drug-Like Molecules , Zhanpeng Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

aPKCs role in Neuroblastoma cell signaling cascades and Implications of aPKCs inhibitors as potential therapeutics , Sloan Breedy

Protein Folding Kinetics Analysis Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy , Dhanya Dhananjayan

Affordances and Limitations of Molecular Representations in General and Organic Chemistry , Ayesha Farheen

Institutional and Individual Approaches to Change in Undergraduate STEM Education: Two Framework Analyses , Stephanie B. Feola

Applications in Opioid Analysis with FAIMS Through Control of Vapor Phase Solvent Modifiers , Nathan Grimes

Synthesis, Characterization, and Separation of Loaded Liposomes for Drug Delivery , Sandra Khalife

Supramolecular Architectures Generated by Self-assembly of Guanosine and Isoguanosine Derivatives , Mengjia Liu

Syntheses, Photophysics, & Application of Porphyrinic Metal-Organic Frameworks , Zachary L. Magnuson

Integration of Algae and Biomass Processes to Synthesize Renewable Bioproducts for the Circular Economy , Jessica Martin

Considerations for curricular reform in undergraduate chemistry: Cooperative adoption factors, modeling social influence, and focusing on specific populations , Jacob D. McAlpin

Chemical Analysis of Metabolites from Mangrove Endophytic Fungus , Sefat E Munjerin

Synthesis of Small Molecule Modulators of Non-Traditional Drug Targets , Jamie Nunziata

Conformational Dynamics and Free Energy Studies of DNA and Other Biomolecules , Paul B. Orndorff

Synthetic Studies of Potential New Ketogenic Molecules , Mohammad Nazmus Sakib

Coupling Chemical and Genomic Data of Marine Sediment-Associated Bacteria for Metabolite Profiling , Stephanie P. Suarez

Enhanced Methods in Forensic Mass Spectrometry for Targeted and Untargeted Drug Analysis , Dina M. Swanson

Investigation of Challenging Transformations in Gold Catalysis , Qi Tang

Diazirines and Oxaziridines as Nitrogen Transfer Reagents in Drug Discovery , Khalilia C. Tillett

Developing New Strategy toward Ruthenium and Gold Redox Catalysis , Chenhuan Wang

Gold-Catalyzed Diyne-ene Cyclization: Synthesis of Hetero Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons and 1,2-Dihydropyridines , Jingwen Wei

Development of Antiviral Peptidomimetics , Songyi Xue

Self-Assembly of Metallo-Supramolecules Based on Terpyridine and its Derivatives , Yu Yan

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Synthesis and Antibacterial Testing of Novel Thiosulfonate Compounds , Lindsay I. Blume

Investigating a Potential STING Modulator , Jaret J. Crews

Development of Lipidated Antimicrobial Polycarbonates , Ruixuan Gao

Exploring the Structure and Activity of Metallo-Tetracyclines , Shahedul Islam

Large Area Projection Sintering of Semicrystalline Polymers and Part Analysis of the Printed Specimens , Taranjot Kaur

Interfacing Computational Techniques with Synthetic and Spectroscopic Methods for Research and Education , Nicole Annette Miller

An Investigation into the Protein Dynamics and Proton Transfer Mechanism of Class-A β-lactamase (CTX-Ms) by NMR Spectroscopy , Radwan Ebna Noor

Effects of acid hydrolyzed chitosan derivatives on MHV infection , Krishna Sharma

Metabolomic Analysis, Identification and Antimicrobial Assay of Two Mangrove Endophytes , Stephen Thompson

Advanced Analytical Method Development: from Highly-Enrolled Classroom to Data-Intensive Proteomics , Laxmi Sinduri Vuppala

Measuring and Improving Student Attitude in College-level Chemistry: A Novel Survey Methodology and Social-psychological Interventions , Ying Wang

Targeting the Side-Chain Convergence of α-Helical Hot Spots to Design Small-Molecule Mimetics Disrupting Protein-Protein Interaction , Zhen Wang

Bioactivity of Suberitenones A and B , Jared G. Waters

Developing Efficient Transition Metal Catalyzed C-C & C-X Bond Construction , Chiyu Wei

Chemical Investigation and Drug Discovery Potential of Terpenoid Secondary Metabolites from Three Deep-Sea Irish Soft Corals , Joshua Thomas Welsch

Measurement in Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics Education: Student Explanations of Organic Chemistry Reaction Mechanisms and Instructional Practices in Introductory Courses , Brandon J. Yik

Study on New Reactivity of Vinyl Gold and Its Sequential Transformations , Teng Yuan

Study on New Strategy toward Gold(I/III) Redox Catalysis , Shuyao Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Design, Synthesis and Testing of Bioactive Peptidomimetics , Sami Abdulkadir

Synthesis of Small Molecules for the Treatment of Infectious Diseases , Elena Bray

Social Constructivism in Chemistry Peer Leaders and Organic Chemistry Students , Aaron M. Clark

Synthesizing Laccol Based Polymers/Copolymers and Polyurethanes; Characterization and Their Applications , Imalka Marasinghe Arachchilage

The Photophysical Studies of Transition Metal Polyimines Encapsulated in Metal Organic Frameworks (MOF’s) , Jacob M. Mayers

Light Harvesting in Photoactive Guest-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks , Christopher R. McKeithan

Using Quantitative Methods to Investigate Student Attitudes Toward Chemistry: Women of Color Deserve the Spotlight , Guizella A. Rocabado Delgadillo

Simulations of H2 Sorption in Metal-Organic Frameworks , Shanelle Suepaul

Parallel Computation of Feynman Path Integrals and Many-Body Polarization with Application to Metal-Organic Materials , Brant H. Tudor

The Development of Bioactive Peptidomimetics Based on γ-AApeptides , Minghui Wang

Investigation of Immobilized Enzymes in Confined Environment of Mesoporous Host Matrices , Xiaoliang Wang

Novel Synthetic Ketogenic Compounds , Michael Scott Williams

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Biosynthetic Gene Clusters, Microbiomes, and Secondary Metabolites in Cold Water Marine Organisms , Nicole Elizabeth Avalon

Differential Mobility Spectrometry-Mass spectrometry (DMS-MS) for Forensic and Nuclear-Forensic applications , Ifeoluwa Ayodeji

Conversion from Metal Oxide to MOF Thin Films as a Platform of Chemical Sensing , Meng Chen

Asking Why : Analyzing Students' Explanations of Organic Chemistry Reaction Mechanisms using Lexical Analysis and Predictive Logistic Regression Models , Amber J. Dood

Development of Next-Generation, Fast, Accurate, Transferable, and Polarizable Force-fields for Heterogenous Material Simulations , Adam E. Hogan

Breakthroughs in Obtaining QM/MM Free Energies , Phillip S. Hudson

New Synthetic Methodology Using Base-Assisted Diazonium Salts Activation and Gold Redox Catalysis , Abiola Azeez Jimoh

Development and Application of Computational Models for Biochemical Systems , Fiona L. Kearns

Analyzing the Retention of Knowledge Among General Chemistry Students , James T. Kingsepp

A Chemical Investigation of Three Antarctic Tunicates of the Genus Synoicum , Sofia Kokkaliari

Construction of Giant 2D and 3D Metallo-Supramolecules Based on Pyrylium Salts Chemistry , Yiming Li

Assessing Many-Body van der Waals Contributions in Model Sorption Environments , Matthew K. Mostrom

Advancing Equity Amongst General Chemistry Students with Variable Preparations in Mathematics , Vanessa R. Ralph

Sustainable Non-Noble Metal based Catalysts for High Performance Oxygen Electrocatalysis , Swetha Ramani

The Role of aPKCs and aPKC Inhibitors in Cell Proliferation and Invasion in Breast and Ovarian Cancer , Tracess B. Smalley

Development of Ultrasonic-based Ambient Desorption Ionization Mass Spectrometry , Linxia Song

Covalent Organic Frameworks as an Organic Scaffold for Heterogeneous Catalysis including C-H Activation , Harsh Vardhan

Optimization of a Digital Ion Trap to Perform Isotope Ratio Analysis of Xenon for Planetary Studies , Timothy Vazquez

Multifunctional Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) For Applications in Sustainability , Gaurav Verma

Design, Synthesis of Axial Chiral Triazole , Jing Wang

The Development of AApeptides , Lulu Wei

Chemical Investigation of Floridian Mangrove Endophytes and Antarctic Marine Organisms , Bingjie Yang

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

An Insight into the Biological Functions, the Molecular Mechanism and the Nature of Interactions of a Set of Biologically Important Proteins. , Adam A. Aboalroub

Functional Porous Materials: Applications for Environmental Sustainability , Briana Amaris Aguila

Biomimetic Light Harvesting in Metalloporphyrins Encapsulated/Incorporated within Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs). , Abdulaziz A. Alanazi

Design and Synthesis of Novel Agents for the Treatment of Tropical Diseases , Linda Corrinne Barbeto

Effect of Atypical protein kinase C inhibitor (DNDA) on Cell Proliferation and Migration of Lung Cancer Cells , Raja Reddy Bommareddy

The Activity and Structure of Cu2+ -Biomolecules in Disease and Disease Treatment , Darrell Cole Cerrato

Simulation and Software Development to Understand Interactions of Guest Molecules inPorous Materials , Douglas M. Franz

Construction of G-quadruplexes via Self-assembly: Enhanced Stability and Unique Properties , Ying He

The Role of Atypical Protein Kinase C in Colorectal Cancer Cells Carcinogenesis , S M Anisul Islam

Chemical Tools and Treatments for Neurological Disorders and Infectious Diseases , Andrea Lemus

Antarctic Deep Sea Coral and Tropical Fungal Endophyte: Novel Chemistry for Drug Discovery , Anne-Claire D. Limon

Constituent Partitioning Consensus Docking Models and Application in Drug Discovery , Rainer Metcalf

An Investigation into the Heterogeneity of Insect Arylalkylamine N -Acyltransferases , Brian G. O'Flynn

Evaluating the Evidence Base for Evidence-Based Instructional Practices in Chemistry through Meta-Analysis , Md Tawabur Rahman

Role of Oncogenic Protein Kinase C-iota in Melanoma Progression; A Study Based on Atypical Protein Kinase-C Inhibitors , Wishrawana Sarathi Bandara Ratnayake

Formulation to Application: Thermomechanical Characterization of Flexible Polyimides and The Improvement of Their Properties Via Chain Interaction , Alejandro Rivera Nicholls

The Chemical Ecology and Drug Discovery Potential of the Antarctic Red Alga Plocamium cartilagineum and the Antarctic Sponge Dendrilla membranosa , Andrew Jason Shilling

Synthesis, Discovery and Delivery of Therapeutic Natural Products and Analogs , Zachary P. Shultz

Development of α-AA peptides as Peptidomimetics for Antimicrobial Therapeutics and The Discovery of Nanostructures , Sylvia E. Singh

Self-Assembly of 2D and 3D Metallo-Supramolecules with Increasing Complexity , Bo Song

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Examining the prostate and breast cancer bone metastasis microenvironment , fluorescent and photoswitching compounds , synthetic and synthetically modified transmembrane channels , world of probabilities: a molecular dynamics and markov state modelling approach for rational design of allosteric modulators , exploring bioorthogonal probes for long-term cellular imaging , mechanistic studies of the nickel-catalysed ullmann coupling , directed electrophilic c-h borylation using lewis-base stabilised boranes , self-assembled supramolecular systems for f-element separations , synthesis of novel polymers of intrinsic microporosity for gas and vapour adsorption , raman-active chemical probes for cancer cell imaging and medicinal chemistry , good vibrations: highly versatile small molecule raman optical probes to image metabolism in tissue microenvironments , unravelling complex systems: development and applications of nmr and ms methodology , application of ultrafast spectroscopic techniques to single-molecule magnets , investigation of polymorphism in phase-change materials for latent heat storage applications , biocatalytic valorisation of natural polymers , computational methods for the interpretation of ultrafast photochemical reactions , towards a computational screening programme for energetic materials , solid-phase synthesis of s-tetrazines: method development and applications in chemical biology , magneto-structural investigations of calix[n]arene-supported metal clusters , sensitive detection of photosensitised singlet oxygen within single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fibres .

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• Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry
• Publication

Defended PhD theses

• Cai LIn (2018-2021). PhD thesis: Enrichment of a purine nucleoside analog library towards activity against Leishmania and Trypanosoma cruzi species

Jakob Bouton (2015-2021). PhD thesis: Homoazanucleoside, purine nucleoside and hamamelitannin analogues: towards new therapeutics for infectious diseases

• Yanlin Jian (2017-2020). PhD thesis: "Design and synthesis of M. tuberculosis thymidylate kinase inhibitors towards active whole-cell antimycobacterial agents"
• Charlotte Courtens (2014-2018). PhD thesis: "Synthesis of prodrugs of a fosmidomycin surrogate as antimalarial and antitubercular agents"
• Jonas Janssens (2014-2019). Jonas Janssens (2014-2018). PhD thesis: "Galactosylceramide analogues as iNKT-cell antigens: synthesis, biological evaluation and structural analysis"
• Mingchen Qian (2013-2018). ”Synthesis and biological evaluation of new bivalent GPCR ligands”
• Fabian Hulpia (2013-2018).  ”Design and synthesis of a purine nucleoside library: phenotypic discovery of anti-kinetoplastid agents”
• Lijun Song (2012-2018). "Design and synthesis of non-nucleoside M. tuberculosis thymidylate kinase Inhibitors as antimycobacterial agents"
• Joren Guillaume (2010-2016). PhD thesis: "Synthesis of new glycosphingolipids as NKT cell ligands"
• Arno Vermote (2012-2015). PhD thesis: ”Quorum Sensing Modulating Hamamelitannin Analogues as Potentiators for Antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus” 
• René Chofor (2009-2015). PhD defense highlights . PhD thesis: Synthesis and Evaluation of 1-Deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase Inhibitors as Antimalarial and Antituberculosis Agents
• Dries De Clercq (2011-2015) PhD thesis: Synthesis of chemical dimerizers for the optimization of MASPIT
• Kiran Toti (2009-2014) PhD thesis: Synthesis and biological evaluation of 4'-hydroxymethyl deleted, transposed and modified nucleosides
• Nora Pauwels (2008-2013) PhD thesis: Synthesis of new a-GalCer analogues as iNKT cell targeting agents
• Thomas Verbrugghen (2006-2012) PhD thesis: Synthesis of DXR inhibitors as antimalarials
• Sara Van Poecke (2007-2011) PhD thesis: Synthesis and biological evaluation of pyrimidine nucleosides and nucleoside phosphonates
• Matthias Trappeniers (2006-2010). PhD thesis: Synthesis of sphingosine- and sugar-modified alpha-GalCer analogues: towards new immunomodulatory agents
• Liesbet Cosyn (2003-2008) PhD thesis: Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Purine and Pyrimidine Ligands for the A 3 and P2Y 2 Purinergic Receptors
• Ineke Van Daele (2003-2007) PhD thesis: Design of thymidine-based inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis thymidylate kinase
• Vincent Devreux (2003-2006) PhD thesis: Synthese van fosmidomycine-analogen met potentiële anti-malaria-activiteit
• Timothy Haemers (2002-2006) PhD thesis: Synthesis and Evaluation of Fosmidomycin Analogues as Antimalarial Agents
• Ulrik Hillaert (2000-2005) PhD thesis: Synthesis of Biologically Relevant Sphingolipid Analogues
• Philippe Van Rompaey (2000-2004) PhD thesis: Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Modified Adenosine and Thymidine Nucleoside Analogues
• Veerle Vanheusden (1999-2004) PhD thesis: Structure-aided design of inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis thimydilate kinase
• Steven De Jonge (1997-2000) PhD thesis: Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Dihydroceramide and Homoceramide Analogues
• Ilse Van Overmeire (1996-1999) PhD thesis: Synthesis of biologically relevant sphingoid- and ceramide-analogues

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• Published: 19 July 2023

Looking back and moving forward in medicinal chemistry

Nature Communications volume  14 , Article number:  4299 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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Medicinal chemistry is a fast-evolving interdisciplinary research area which aims to improve human life by developing drugs to combat diseases. Nature Communications interviewed three scientists, Daniele Castagnolo (Associate Professor at University College London), Paramita Sarkar (postdoctoral researcher at University of Würzburg) and Dani Schulz (Director, Discovery Process Chemistry at Merck), about their careers and the past and future in medicinal chemistry research. We asked the researchers what medicinal chemistry means to them, and their opinions on the current relevance of the Rule of Five and new chemical modalities beyond the Rule of Five. We also discuss the differences between academic and industry research in medicinal chemistry and how Open Science can support collaborations for drug development.

What is your research background and how did you move into the field of medicinal chemistry research?

I became attracted to synthetic chemistry and its applications to the synthesis and design of drugs during my undergraduate studies in medicinal chemistry at the University of Siena. Such interest pushed me to continue my studies with a PhD in medicinal chemistry in the research group of Prof. Maurizio Botta, where I had a chance to work on the design and synthesis of antibacterial drugs as well as on the development of catalytic methodologies to access drugs and drug precursors through alternative and more efficient ways. During my PhD, I also started to develop an interest for organic chemistry, that led me to carry out postdoctoral studies in catalysis and organic synthesis, with Prof. Pihko in Helsinki and Prof. Clayden in Manchester. Nevertheless, I never lost sight of medicinal chemistry, so that, when I started my independent career, I decided to split my research activity into two interconnected themes: drug discovery and the development of catalytic synthetic methodologies. As a medicinal chemist, I am interested in the design and identification of new antibacterial drugs with the aim to give my contribution to the fight against antimicrobial resistance. In parallel, as an organic chemist, I like to explore novel synthetic methodologies to prepare such drugs or drug building blocks in faster, smarter and more sustainable ways than the existing ones, mainly exploiting enzymes and biocatalysis. As an example, some years ago we designed a new class of highly active pyrrole antitubercular agents and also developed a novel biocatalytic methodology to synthesise such heterocycles in a milder, greener and more sustainable way.

What is medicinal chemistry for you?

Compared to other branches of chemistry, medicinal chemistry is a highly multidisciplinary science, falling between chemistry and pharmacy and combining different disciplines. Thus, I think that it is quite hard to give an unambiguous definition of medicinal chemistry, and different scientists may have their own respectable and personal take on this. To me, doing research in medicinal chemistry means exploiting my organic chemistry knowledge to find solutions that may help to promote advancements in the treatment of a specific disease and therapeutic area. I am particularly interested in finding new synthetic routes to facilitate and accelerate the discovery of antibacterial agents to tackle antimicrobial resistance, a current global threat, by using drug hybridization strategies or recycling and repurposing drugs that have been put aside after failing pre-clinical or clinical trials.

Synthesis and modifications of bioactive, small molecular weight compounds have been a staple of medicinal chemistry in the past, while, currently, simpler-to-assemble, higher molecular weight compounds, such as targeted degradation derivatives, are receiving a lot of attention. Are we assisting at a thinking and development shift in the field, beyond Rule of 5?

One of the ultimate goals of medicinal chemistry is to develop medicines to treat a specific disease. The number of diseases affecting humans, or animals in case we work on the development of veterinary drugs, is unfortunately huge, and such diseases have diverse aetiology and biological/physiological characteristics. Treating a bacterial infection has been relatively easy in the past using the appropriate antibiotic, but a similar approach does not work against viruses, against which we normally rely on preventive vaccinations. Further different strategies are adopted in the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular diseases or even diabetes and anxiety, just to name a few. It is therefore evident that a specific disease needs a specific treatment and thus it is important for us to develop a variety of drugs for many diverse needs. Simpler-to-assemble, higher molecular weights compounds, like e.g. PROteolysis Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs), are showing promising results against cancer, and recently also against infectious diseases, but other therapeutic areas still rely on the use of small molecules. In my opinion, small molecules will continue to play a key role in the treatment of some diseases or medical conditions in the near future and thus it would be an error to state that their time is over. The more diverse therapeutic weapons we have, the better it will be. Regarding the Rule of 5, I am sure this still is and will be an important tool to design and optimise drugs. The error would be to consider the Rule of 5 an indisputable rule, and we have examples of efficient drugs going beyond it, especially natural products. However, if cleverly used, the Rule of 5 is still a very helpful tool in drug discovery and development.

In your view, which other chemical modalities are being developed and which are underdeveloped at the moment?

The recent COVID-19 pandemic showed the potential of mRNA in the preparation of vaccines against viruses. Such technology is very promising, and it could be used in the future also in cancer therapy. RNA-based drugs, like small interfering RNA (siRNA) or antisense oligonucleotides are other examples of new chemical modalities, as well as oligo- and polypeptides which are finding increasing interest and application against bacterial infections, or antibody drug conjugates and the above mentioned PROTACs in cancer therapy. Other areas which I find particularly interesting are the development of membrane disrupting agents like macrocyclic peptides, fatty acids, or lipid derivatives, especially for its implications in antimicrobial resistance, and photopharmacology, a growing area that employs photoswitchable ligands to modulate the activity of drugs.

Are there more quick and efficient screening technologies emerging that could help to speed up the drug discovery process, or to make it more affordable?

Combinatorial synthesis and diversity-oriented synthesis have been, and still are, key technologies to speed up the drug discovery processes, allowing the generation of structurally diverse hit compounds for biological assays in a relatively short time. Similarly, virtual screening, either structure-, ligand- or fragment-based, has revolutionised our way of discovering new active molecules. Recently, activity-directed synthesis has emerged as an interesting technology through which crude reaction mixtures are directly screened for biological activity. Such approach offers the advantage to enable the parallel discovery of both biologically active hit compounds and associated synthetic routes, in a manner similar to the natural evolution of biosynthetic pathways yielding natural products.

In my group, we make use of virtual screening and combinatorial techniques to identify new hit molecules. We also use the hybridization and repurposing of old and abandoned drugs, which have failed preclinical or clinical trials. The idea is to re-use such molecules by improving their pharmaceutical profile via appropriate chemical modifications. We want to develop a sustainable approach to drug discovery, minimising the drop out of hit drug candidates which still may have a biological potential, through a drug-recycling approach taking advantage of the chemical and biological data already available on these drugs, in turn compressing the time for their translation to preclinical and clinical trials. Drug hybridization is not a new drug discovery strategy and may look less efficient compared to other technologies that guarantee a more rapid generation of compound libraries. However, I like to quote Nobel laureate Sir James Black who stated that “ the most fruitful basis of the discovery of a new drug is to start with an old drug ”.

What do you think are the main differences in approach and mind-set between academia and industry?

We could define the research in academia as knowledge-centric, since one of the key aspects of academic research is the sharing of knowledge and data with the scientific community. One of the most important goals in academia is represented by the dissemination of research data through scientific publications or at conferences. Not infrequently, the research carried out in academia may have no immediate scientific or social impact, and its potential may become evident only years later. On the other hand, industry can probably be seen as more goal-centric, since its primary goal generally is, in the case of pharmaceutical industry, the development, production and commercialization of medicines and therapeutic treatments for patients. Researchers in industry focus more in developing new products (i.e. medicines) or technologies that may have an immediate impact on their clients (i.e. patients). Industries also publish and disseminate knowledge, often in collaboration with academia, but, before disclosing their discoveries to the public, they must take into account aspects such as intellectual property protection and patents. In industry, every major discovery is generally patent protected, and profitable, and any data dissemination usually follows a patent filing.

Do you think Open Science initiatives can help speed up the drug discovery process, and enable closer collaborations between industry and academia?

It is important to distinguish what can be the implications of Open Science for academia and what for industry. As an academic, I fully support Open Science initiatives, such as open access publications or sharing and dissemination of data with the public. As mentioned above, the role of academia should be mainly to share knowledge and disseminate data and discoveries. Medicinal chemists can carry out research in many areas, such as identification of new drugs, validation of new drug targets, optimization of the biological properties of drugs, development of drug-screening technologies etc. Sharing knowledge and data through Open Science can help researchers working on closely related areas to overcome problems, get new ideas and, in turn, speed up the drug discovery process. Open Science in industry is a thorny problem, since industries normally protect and patent their discoveries because they must deal with competitors and enormous cost investments, especially in clinical trials. However, there are some pharma start-ups that are already attempting to implement an open-science business model of drug development. Such models seem to work well, specifically in pre-clinical development, in the area of orphan and rare diseases, through regulatory exclusivity incentives offered by drug regulators. This could lead to closer collaborations between academia and industry in the near future, speeding up the discovery of new drugs, especially for neglected or orphan diseases like rare cancers or metabolic diseases, or tropical infections like trypanosomiasis or leprosy.

The pandemic emergency has led to more rapid than usual responses to quickly develop vaccines and medicines. What has been the biggest mind-set shift on the drug discovery process so far, in your opinion?

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has shown how the sharing of data and collaboration among researchers can lead to the development of medicines and treatments in a rapid and efficient way. The efforts made during the pandemic have been enormous in terms of human and economic resources, scheduling and planning between industries, regulatory agencies and researchers, and pace of work. Probably, such an approach is far from being sustainable in the long term and it cannot be adopted for the development of medicines. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic has given us the confirmation that collaborative, coordinated and, following off from the previous question, open science research, are and will be vital in future for successful drug discovery and development.

I come from the east Indian metropolitan of Kolkata where there is a passion for studying basic sciences. Partly due to the academic culture and my interest in the subject, I enrolled for Chemistry in the St. Xavier’s College (University of Calcutta) for my undergraduate degree. I was undecided about what to specialize in afterwards, but I knew I wanted to do sciences. Luckily, I got selected into a multidisciplinary integrated PhD program at the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR, Bangalore, India). Bangalore boasts of some great scientific institutes such as the Indian Institute of Science and National Centre for Biological Sciences. This exposure to outstanding scientists attracted me to JNCASR. The programme allowed me to rotate in labs that tackled different problems at the interface of chemistry, physics, and biology. During my rotation at the lab led by Prof. Jayanta Haldar, I was exposed to the problem of antimicrobial resistance or how bacteria were evolving mechanisms to render clinically used drugs obsolete. I wondered how I could use my background in chemistry to find innovative solutions to treat multi-drug resistant bacterial infections. I started working on the modification of vancomycin. Vancomycin is an antibiotic of last resort, meaning it is used only when all other drugs fail to treat Gram-positive bacterial infections. This was my pathway to the world of medicinal chemistry and microbiology. I was fascinated by the ways in which I could introduce chemical modifications on vancomycin to make it work against bacteria that had either grown resistant or were inherently resistant to it. After completing my master’s thesis, I delved into the medicinal chemistry of glycopeptide antibiotics for my PhD. For the next four years, I would modify vancomycin to make it effective against both drug-resistant Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. I then studied how the lead compounds affected the biosynthetic processes in bacteria through various phenotypic analyses, biophysical, and biochemical methods. Currently, I continue to use my skills as a medicinal chemist to develop antisense antibiotics at the Institute for Molecular Infection Biology in Würzburg, Germany.

Quoting Prof. Carolyn Bertozzi: “We chemists are dreamers. We think up new molecules and bring them to life”. Medicinal chemistry for me is a power to positively affect human health. I find immense pleasure in tweaking molecules with simple chemistry that leads to an improvement in their therapeutic properties. My ultimate aim is to contribute at least one drug to the clinic that will save many lives.

Synthesis and modifications of bioactive, small molecular weight compounds have been a staple of medicinal chemistry in the past, while, currently, simpler-to-assemble, higher molecular weights compounds, such as targeted degradation derivatives, are receiving a lot of attention. Are we assisting at a thinking and development shift in the field, beyond Rule of 5?

Indeed, while Lipinski’s Rule of 5 served as a starting point in medicinal chemistry, modern medicine has moved beyond small molecules. While small molecular drugs continue to be an important class of drugs, the field has advanced to newer modalities. In the last decade, quite a few drugs that are beyond the rule of 5 (bRo5) have been approved for clinical use for example, voclosporin, glecaprevir and fostamatinib. Around 50 percent of the drugs approved in 2022 are alternative therapeutics that fall in the bRo5 space. The chemical space for drugs and therapeutic strategies has expanded significantly to macromolecules such as oligonucleotide therapeutics (antisense therapy, siRNA, oligonucleotide conjugates, aptamers) and antibodies. This can largely be attributed to great technical advancements made in the field of automated chemical synthesis and biotechnology. In my opinion, for the development of potential new drugs, medicinal chemists require an understanding of the drug target and biological processes. The lines between chemistry and biology have thus become less prominent and close collaboration between the subjects is leading to a new era in drug development. For example, targeted protein degradation strategies (PROTACs), phage therapy, and CRISPR-based gene editing therapeutics, microbial therapeutics, and in vivo expressed biologics are also being developed as therapeutics. With these technologies, I believe that, in the next decade, we will see a new generation of medicines.

I feel current medicine has been emerging beyond just chemical modalities. We already see a trend of synthetic biologics such as oncolytic viruses, CAR-T-cell therapy, and synthetic proteins/enzymes among others, are heralding a paradigm shift away from conventional chemical modalities. Having said that, specifically, the emerging chemical modalities being developed include macrocyclic molecules, targeted protein degraders, cyclopeptides, nanobodies, antibody-drug, and drug-drug conjugates. While significant research has been done on organic and inorganic nanoparticles and polymer-based therapeutics, they are still underrepresented in the clinics.

There are several technologies that are being developed and used to speed up as well as reduce the cost of all stages of drug discovery. With the growth of artificial intelligence and machine learning, computer-aided drug discovery has revolutionized in-silico drug screening, thereby speeding up lead discovery. OMICs technologies including genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, help in the understanding of the disease pathways and identification of drug targets. These assist medicinal chemists in designing better drugs with minimal side effects. In addition, genome-wide screening technologies using RNAi, and CRISPR-based gene editing have enabled interrogation of gene function. These help to identify new disease-causing target proteins and genes. Drug discoverers can therefore specifically screen for compounds against these new targets to speed up drug discovery. Automation and flow-based synthesis platforms that can help in rapid discovery and optimisation of small molecules have also been developed in the last decade. On the other hand, in vitro screening assays to associate signalling profiles of potential drug candidates to desired/undesired clinical outcomes are also being developed. In that regard, microfluidic lab-on-a-chip technologies can aid all stages of drug discovery, from high-throughput synthesis to drug evaluation.

Industry and academia differ in their motivations for research and in their parameters of success. Industrial research is application-oriented with a focus on commercial potential and profitability. Academia on the other hand is more fundamental and is driven by curiosity and societal needs. This is best exemplified by the scarcity of big pharma involved in anti-infective research: due to the poor return on investment, research in this field is not as attractive and is done mostly by academic labs or small and medium-sized companies. The Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership, Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator and Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, among others, are examples of some initiatives that have facilitated a global partnership between private, academic, and non-profit entities to combat the challenges in anti-infective drug development.

I believe that Open Science initiatives are excellent to aid drug discovery. The reproducibility and translatability of preclinical findings to the clinics remain a challenge despite efforts by both academia and industry. Open Science could mitigate these issues by facilitating collaborative research and increasing transparency. The response to the COVID-19 pandemic best illustrates the benefits of open science initiatives. Publication houses such as Springer Nature and Elsevier made all COVID-related research freely accessible. Additionally, initiatives such as OpenSAFELY provided free and easy access to healthcare data thereby facilitating research on other treatment modalities. However, I believe this is the only successful example where open science has expedited the drug discovery process as much. I feel that we are still a few years away before it uproots the current model that science has adopted. For example, patent protection is fundamental for the commercial success of industrial giants. Open source is essentially anti-patent. Thus, a different commercial model needs to be adopted to include the open-source initiative.

The speed with which solutions were developed during the pandemic showcased the strength of open science. For me, the biggest impact that the pandemic has had on science is cross-disciplinary research towards a common goal: almost everyone doing science wanted to contribute to solving pandemic-related problems. The pandemic brought together physicists, biologists, chemists, computational scientists, statisticians, and medical doctors collaborating at a pace that we had never seen before. This led to the realisation of the need for close collaborations across fields to facilitate successful drug discovery. I believe, medicinal chemistry is in the thick of it and ties all the fields together. For example, the in-silico drug screening helps to identify interesting leads which allows medicinal chemists to synthesize homologues of the leads and quickly screen them for activity together with biologists.

What is your research background and how did you move into the field of discovery process chemistry research?

My background is in synthetic organic chemistry and my journey to where I am today at Merck & Co., Inc., USA (also known as MSD) started when I was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. There I studied chemistry and molecular biology and was fortunate enough to be part of an undergraduate research project where I synthesized novel serotonin agonists for structure-activity relationship studies in collaboration with pharmacologists. This fascinated me for a couple reasons: first, I was observing first-hand how subtle chemical modifications can dramatically impact pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) and second, I was creating chemical matter that had never been reported – it was quite exhilarating! My undergraduate research solidified my decision to pursue a PhD in organic chemistry at the University of Michigan with Professor John Wolfe and subsequently a postdoc at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Professor Tehshik Yoon. As a graduate student and then postdoc, I focused on creating new synthetic methodologies with emerging technologies, such as visible-light photocatalysis, developing reactions that would rapidly assemble molecular complexity from simple precursors. Given my experience in drug discovery as an undergraduate, coupled with my training in devising efficient routes to molecules, industry seemed like the perfect fit and I joined the company in 2014 as a Senior Scientist. Since joining, I have been a member of Process Chemistry and Enabling Technologies groups, where I leveraged catalysis and high-throughput experimentation (HTE) to advance clinical candidates developed by our medicinal chemists. In 2021, I brought this experience to Discovery Process Chemistry (DPC), a group that resides at the discovery and process chemistry interface. Within this role, I lead a group of creative process chemists who apply a range of technologies to accelerate the design-make-test (DMT) cycle and advance our small molecule and peptide portfolio.

In my current role, I work alongside medicinal chemists and have observed first-hand their dedication to the pursuit of finding new medicines to impact human health. From that perspective, medicinal chemistry involves creativity, collaboration and a deep understanding of both biology and the interplay of the various pharmaceutical properties (potency, stability, solubility, etc.) that they are trying to optimize. For medicinal chemists, the pursuit of new medicines proceeds through the DMT cycle, designing new compounds to probe a specific biological hypothesis, synthesizing them in the lab and then testing their biological activity. In my opinion, the ‘make’ in the DMT cycle is typically rate-limiting (there are more good ideas than time to try them) and that is where DPC works alongside medicinal chemists to access chemical space where there is no established route – the ‘uncharted space.’ Partnering with medicinal chemists is incredibly exciting as we are all rowing in the same direction to find the best molecules as quickly and efficiently as possible.

As you have pointed out, the small molecule (SM) drug-discovery toolbox is very well established and has resulted in the small molecule modality dominating FDA approved drugs ( > 50% of the global pharmaceutical market is SMs). Beyond rule of 5 (bRo5) compounds are becoming quite prevalent within the pharmaceutical industry as they are opening the aperture of druggable space; however, unlike SMs, the toolbox to rapidly explore chemical modifications and develop bRo5 compounds comes with challenges. For instance, targeted degraders are typically composed of two small molecules (one being an E3 ligase ligand and the other being the protein of interest ligand) that are connected through a linker. While the current chemistry is fairly straightforward to stitch these three components together (i.e. amide and ether bond formations), expanding the linker toolbox and thinking holistically on new convergent methods for targeted degrader synthesis would not only accelerate drug discovery but also influence the pharmaceutical properties. Lastly, the intended route of administration for the majority of bRo5 compounds is oral delivery, yet challenges remain in optimizing the chemical matter to be stable towards gastro-intestinal proteases and with the ideal solubility/bio-physical properties for absorption and target delivery. For instance, unlike small molecules, bRo5 compounds (with molecular weights >500 Da) can readily form oligomers or higher ordered structures which can dramatically impact absorption and the overall ability to access the target. As a result, achieving optimal formulations for bRo5 compounds will be critical in the advancement of these modalities.

As I mentioned above, non-naturally occurring peptides (within the bRo5 domain) are a growing therapeutic modality with most applications targeting endogenous proteins; however, advances in hit-to-lead platforms (such as mRNA display) have revealed that peptides also have the unique disposition to disrupt protein-protein interactions (PPIs) – once considered undruggable. As a result, the discovery of peptide therapeutics is rapidly evolving and there is a growing need for new chemical tools and non-canonical amino acid (ncAA) building blocks that allow the interrogation of key properties such as potency, proteolytic stability, solubility and bioavailability. In my opinion, our understanding of how best to leverage ncAAs to access a seemingly endless source of peptide chemical diversity is still in its infancy. Consequently, investments in modelling, informatics, and synthesis are needed to truly impact the future of peptide therapeutics. For example, one area that I feel is underdeveloped is methods for the late-stage functionalization (LSF) of complex peptides that are compatible both on-resin and in solution. The advantages of pursuing LSF during peptide drug discovery is quite substantial, as a single precursor peptide could be used to generate a library of boutique peptides targeting PPIs from commercial building blocks.

Building off the previous question, the potential to develop therapeutic peptides to target PPIs is incredibly exciting but also incredibly daunting—as how does a drug discovery team begin to survey this vast space? Well, over the past 20 years, advances in hit finding platforms, such as mRNA display and phage display, have relieved the bottleneck of identifying biologically active peptides, hijacking well-established cellular processes to generate > 10^10 unique de novo peptides in a single round. What has been particularly exciting is that mRNA display allows the incorporation of ncAAs, greatly expanding the chemical space of peptide and protein modalities by not limiting the toolbox to the 20 canonical amino acids. However, the utilization of ncAAs in peptide drug discovery should be carefully assessed, considering both the advantages they offer in terms of the overall pharmaceutical properties of the peptide and the potential increased cost of goods that may arise when scaling the peptide during its transition into development.

In a 2020 Nature Chemistry perspective that I co-authored with my colleague L.-C. Campeau titled ‘Harder, Better, Faster’ we dug into this topic and where we landed is that academia and industry have different objectives; however, we have a common goal of developing the best science and scientists. For academia, research groups are focused on gaining a deeper fundamental understanding of their area of study, with some interest in downstream applications. In contrast, industry is only focused on the downstream application of a drug and can be hesitant to break away from ‘tried and true’ practices to not incur delays. With that said, I believe that academia and industry can do better in breaking down the silos (or, to some, ivory towers) to share their problems to ultimately fuel innovation and hopefully adoption. We are starting to see this mind-set shift through more academic-industrial partnerships that result in exciting new chemistry geared towards ‘pharma-relevant’ problems. Specifically, these partnerships have provided new methodologies for DNA-encoded library synthesis, next generation cross-couplings that utilize inexpensive catalysts, and stereocontrolled access to diverse oligonucleosides and peptides.

Scientists from both academia and industry have started to engage more frequently on problem selection which is resulting in a myriad of collaborations. However, I think where Open Science initiatives shine is in the equitable access of science research to all communities, not just those that can afford it. Having a better understanding of the literature, whether you are a student, professor, or industrial scientist, can inspire and dramatically alter the trajectory of the problems that one solves. I am unsure if Open Science will enable more collaborations but I hope that it inspires students from around the world to pursue a science career thanks to lowering barriers to access scientific research, which will hopefully lead to a more diverse work force that fuels the innovation needed to accelerate drug discovery.

Now that we have seen how rapidly new medicines can be developed, it has made the industry think differently about how we approach drug discovery. In particular, companies’ drug discovery teams can easily become bogged down in the fear of failure, demonstrating risk aversion in the pursuit of the perfect molecule that meets all the criteria. What do I mean by this? For any discovery program, there can be several modalities under consideration or multiple indications that could be pursued in the clinic—which can diffuse efforts and slow teams down. As a result of the pandemic, you had discovery chemistry teams focusing their efforts on what mattered most, which was getting an oral anti-viral or vaccine to the market as quickly as possible. Moreover, the pandemic showed how a firm biomarker strategy and clinical trial design can truly accelerate development. Now, with the pandemic winding down, I hope drug discovery teams continue to prioritize what the patient needs focusing on identifying the best target, modality, and biomarker to move the program forward.

This interview was conducted by Dr. Francesco Zamberlan .

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Looking back and moving forward in medicinal chemistry. Nat Commun 14 , 4299 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39949-6

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Published : 19 July 2023

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Academic Catalog 2024-2025

Medicinal chemistry and drug discovery, phd, journal club participation, colloquium attendance, internship requirements and regulations for department of pharmaceutical sciences, qualifying examination, doctoral candidacy status, doctoral dissertation committee, dissertation proposal defense, registration for dissertation, publications and presentations, phd dissertation preparation, pharmaceutical sciences colloquium, sopps professional code of conduct .

The PhD Program in Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Discovery educates and trains students in the design and synthesis of novel, biologically active compounds and in delineating their mechanisms of action using biochemical, biophysical, and pharmacological approaches. Research specializations are available in synthetic, biochemical/pharmacological, and biophysical aspects of medicinal chemistry. Doctoral research in these specializations will relate to faculty areas of research, which currently include substance use disorders and addiction; neuropathic pain; obesity and metabolic disorders; neuropsychiatric disorders (psychoses, ADHD, depression, anxiety, eating disorders); and neurodegenerative diseases.

The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences sponsors weekly journal clubs, Pharmaceutical Science Seminar ( PHSC 6300 ) , at which students present and evaluate current scientific literature in their fields of study. Students must attend one of these journal clubs (Pharmaceutics & Drug Delivery Journal Club, Pharmacology Journal Club, or Medicinal Chemistry & Drug Discovery Journal Club), chosen in consultation with their advisors.

Attendance at one of these journal clubs is required each and every academic semester, as an integral part of the PhD curriculum, with the exception of the last year (year four) in the program. All PhD students must participate full-time in journal club for course credit, Pharmaceutical Science Seminar ( PHSC 6300 ) , for six semesters. Failure to attend journal club regularly may result in sanctions such as probation or dismissal from the PhD program. Any student who does not comply with these (or any other) conditions required in the PhD program faces potential dismissal.

All PhD students, regardless of program, are required to attend the weekly Pharmaceutical Science Colloquium series. Announcements of times and locations will be distributed weekly to students by email to their university email addresses. Attendance is recorded by sign-up sheet. One excused absence is permitted per semester. Failure to attend colloquia may result in sanctions such as probation or dismissal from the PhD program.

Internships provide an experiential component of the graduate curriculum that fosters professional development through work in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

After PhD candidates have completed their dissertation research and are working on their dissertations, they are able, with the express permission of their PhD advisor, to participate in an internship if they choose. They are never allowed to intern while they are serving as teaching assistants.

• Students are responsible for finding their own internship and must be honest and accurate representing their experiences on their resumés. Students are responsible for tracking this experience on their resumés as there will be no detailed record on students’ transcripts of these opportunities.
• In order to be eligible for internship, students must take Professional Development for Pharmaceutical Sciences ( PHSC 5305 ) a semester before internship.
• Students must not accept more than one position. They must honor the first offer accepted. Any student not adhering to this requirement will not be allowed to participate.
• International students must register for Pharmaceutical Science Internship ( PHSC 6401 )  and follow instructions to receive Curricular Practical Training authorization from the Office of Global Services every semester they work. This applies to part-time jobs and volunteer opportunities. International students cannot engage in full-time CPT authorization totaling more than 52 weeks. Doing so will eliminate the possibility of engaging in the postgraduation benefit of Post-Completion Optional Practical Training.
• In order to receive a grade for the course, students must write at least two learning goals within the first two weeks of the internship and a one- to two-page paper describing what they learned, mid- and end of semester. Supervisors for internships will reply to a questionnaire about students’ performance.
• Taking internship must not extend international students’ visas.
• There are no vacations on co-op/internships. Companies’ sick time policies may vary. Students should check with their employers. For all other matters, please see the Universitywide Academic Policies and Procedures and/or Bouvé College of Health Sciences Academic Policies and Procedures .

The PhD qualifying examination is required for students in all four programs under the auspices of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences: pharmacology, medicinal chemistry and drug discovery, biomedical sciences, and pharmaceutics and drug delivery. Students from each of the four programs will take the exams within the same time frame (below), regardless of specialty-area program focus.

Doctoral students should have selected a dissertation advisor by the end of their first year in the program and are expected to have begun research and demonstrated initial proficiency in the laboratory before taking the PhD qualifying examination.

The PhD qualifying examination tests the candidates’ knowledge and skills in core courses and program content areas. The overall PhD qualifying examination consists of two written exams and one oral exam. The qualifying examination is taken as a course,  Doctoral Training and Research ( PHSC 8940 ) , no later than during the fall semester of the student's second year, after having successfully completed all the core courses of their respective programs.

At least two departmental faculty will contribute questions for the written exams, and no one faculty member will write more than the equivalent of one entire exam. All students qualified to sit for the exams are expected to take them at the times announced.

The format for the written exams may vary (e.g., faculty may ask a series of comprehensive essay questions or provide research publications(s) from the biomedical literature and ask questions based upon the publications’ content). The first exam is given in the first week of fall semester, with the written portion of the second exam (i.e., the F31 written document) to be submitted to the student’s exam committee by the end of October, with the oral presentation to be completed by mid-November and graded by the providers of the question(s).

• For example, if the student is in the pharmaceutics and drug delivery PhD program, part 1 will be about pharmaceutics and drug delivery, and part 2 can focus either on pharmacology or medicinal chemistry and drug discovery.
• Written exam 2 requires that students write an NIH F31 grant proposal and have the proposal signed off as passing by their examination committee after an oral defense.

A score of at least 70% is required to pass the first written exam (two parts). Students must pass all written portions of the PhD qualifying examination prior to the oral defense of the F31 proposal. Students who fail one written exam will have one opportunity to retake and pass that examination. A student who fails the first exam twice will be required to withdraw from the PhD program.

During the oral exam, students defend their NIH F31 grant proposal before an examination committee of, minimally, four faculty members: the dissertation advisor, at least two other Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences faculty members, and at least one member from outside the department. This committee is convened only for the oral exam and does not need to be the same committee as the student's dissertation committee. 

Members of the oral examination committee are selected by the student, after consultation with the dissertation advisor and/or the director of graduate studies. The oral exam is graded on a pass/fail basis. Students who fail the oral exam on the first attempt may retake the exam within a time period designated by the examination committee not to exceed two months from the first oral exam. Those who fail twice will be dismissed from the program.

Doctoral students who have completed satisfactorily and thereby earned the credits for all required core courses (including those for their specialized area) and who have passed the written and oral qualifying examinations shall be admitted to candidacy status for the PhD degree.

Doctoral students must complete a dissertation that embodies the results of extended research and makes an original contribution to their field. This work should give evidence of candidates’ abilities to conduct independent investigation and interpret the results of their research in a professional manner. The doctoral dissertation advisor serves as chairperson of the Doctoral Dissertation Committee, which consists of no fewer than five members. Selection of an advisor is by mutual consent of the student and a member of the faculty, with approval by the director of graduate studies in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. At least two members of the Doctoral Dissertation Committee must be faculty members in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. At least one member is to be selected from outside the department. Committee members are chosen for their expertise in students’ research areas.

Within a year after successful completion of the PhD qualifying examination, but no later than the beginning of the fall semester of the third year, students must prepare and defend a written proposal detailing their planned dissertation project. Failure to do so will be regarded as a failure to progress in the PhD program and will result in a warning from the director of graduate studies of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Students who do not correct this deficiency within one semester will be placed on academic probation. Students on academic probation must complete the dissertation proposal defense and return to nonprobationary status within one semester or be dismissed from the PhD program.

The dissertation proposal should be no more than 50 double-spaced pages (12-point font minimum and one-half-inch margins on all sides). This page limit excludes references but includes figures, figure legends, and tables. Aside from these exceptions, the proposal should otherwise conform to the format and structure of an NIH grant proposal with four main sections: specific aims, background and significance, preliminary studies, and experimental design and methods. The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences Dissertation Proposal document provides detailed instructions on the preparation of a dissertation proposal. Associated required forms may be found on the SOPPS Student Portal Canvas site.

The dissertation proposal must be defended orally before the student's dissertation committee and signed by all dissertation committee members in approval of the student's planned dissertation research.  Upon dissertation approval, the copies of the signed proposal approval cover sheet must be submitted to the department’s director of graduate studies and to the Bouvé College of Health Sciences Graduate Office.

Biannual Review

Dissertation committees meet routinely at six-month intervals, but no less than once a year, to evaluate students’ research progress and to be presented with written and oral progress reports on the direction and status of the research. Progress reports should be written in a brief format, identical to that described for the formal dissertation (see instructions listed on the SOPPS Student Portal Canvas site). Unsatisfactory productivity provides the basis for a warning by the dissertation committee and/or the Graduate Committee. Two such warnings will result in a student’s dismissal from the program.

Advisor consent and completion of all coursework (with the exception of the colloquium course) must be documented before students register for the first dissertation course. Students must register for Dissertation Term 1 ( PHSC 9990 )  and Dissertation Term 2 ( PHSC 9991 ) . Students must register for Dissertation Continuation ( PHSC 9996 )  each semester thereafter until the dissertation has been successfully defended. The department strongly encourages PhD students to complete the program within five years after acceptance, i.e., by three years after establishing degree candidacy. According to university policy, no PhD students may remain in the program for more than seven years.

Prior to completion of PhD training, candidates must present their research either as a poster or podium presentation at a regional or national scientific conference. Also prior to completion, the student must have submitted (preferably, published) at least one manuscript in a peer-reviewed journal that reflects original findings and laboratory work from the candidate's dissertation research.

Detailed guidelines for the format and content of the written dissertation are given in Instructions for Preparation of the Dissertation found on the SOPPS Student Portal Canvas site. The completed dissertation document should be reviewed first by the dissertation advisor. Feedback from the advisor should be incorporated into the dissertation draft before its distribution to the dissertation committee. The completed dissertation should be delivered to all dissertation committee members no later than two weeks before the scheduled oral defense.

All PhD candidates nearing completion of their research are required to present their dissertation findings at the department’s Pharmaceutical Sciences Colloquium. These presentations should be scheduled at least six months before anticipated completion of the dissertation. In turn, the dissertation should be completed no later than one year after the colloquium presentation. Students must register for  Pharmaceutical Science Colloquium ( PHSC 6810 )  during the semester that the colloquium presentation is to be given.

Oral Dissertation Defense

The oral dissertation defense takes place after students complete their PhD dissertation research and all other requirements for the PhD degree. The oral defense deals with the subject matter of the dissertation, significant developments in the field, and students’ background knowledge in their field of concentration.

The dissertation committee conducts the final defense. The committee may recommend that the student clarify, amplify, or rewrite portions of the dissertation before the final defense is scheduled. Once the committee concurs that that written dissertation document is acceptable, a date is chosen for the final oral examination.

At least two weeks prior to the defense, students should inform the director of graduate studies in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the date of defense, so that advance announcement may be distributed. The final defense is open to anyone who wishes to attend and typically lasts at least two hours. After presentation of the work by the student in a seminar format, and responses to audience and committee questions, the committee meets first with the student for any follow-up discussion and then in executive session to decide whether the student has defended the dissertation successfully.

The committee’s decision is then announced to the student. If the committee’s vote is favorable, the student incorporates committee suggestions and corrections, if applicable, and the dissertation is signed and passed on to the department’s director of graduate studies. Requests for a second defense are highly irregular but may be permitted in the event that the previous oral defense was judged by the committee to be highly promising but inadequate in one critical aspect.

The final dissertation must be written, defended, and approved at least two weeks before the university commencement deadline. Students must submit signed copies of their dissertations to the website designated by the university and must abide by any embargo sanctioned by the student’s principal dissertation advisor and/or dissertation committee. The students should apply for graduation before the final dissertation defense, on the assumption that the dissertation will be approved. If the dissertation committee decides that more time is required to complete the dissertation beyond the commencement date, then the application for graduation can be withdrawn and a new one submitted pending final dissertation approval.

All SOPPS students (BSPS, Preprofessional, MS, and PhD) are expected to adhere to the Code of Conduct .

Please visit  Bouvé College of Health Sciences Program Learning Outcomes  for the specific student learning outcomes for this program.

• Concentrations and course offerings may vary by campus and/or by program modality.  Please consult with your advisor or admissions coach for the course availability each term at your campus or within your program modality.  
• Certain options within the program may be  required  at certain campuses or for certain program modalities.  Please consult with your advisor or admissions coach for requirements at your campus or for your program modality. 

Complete all courses and requirements listed below unless otherwise indicated.

Qualifying examination Doctoral candidacy status Doctoral dissertation committee Dissertation proposal Biannual review Pharmaceutical Sciences Colloquium Oral dissertation defense

Core Requirements

A grade of C– or higher is required in each course.

Research and Dissertation

Program credit/gpa requirements.

32 total semester hours required Minimum 3.000 GPA required

Plan of Study

Scientific Writing: Thesis Proposal ( PHSC 7020 )  must be taken the summer before the qualifying exams.

Doctoral Proposal ( PHSC 9681 ) should be taken in summer of second year, but no later than fall of third year. 

Pharmaceutical Science Colloquium ( PHSC 6810 ) must be taken six months before dissertation defense.

PHSC 5305 & PHSC 6213 is suggested to be taken in the fourth year, but can be taken at any point before graduation. 

Plan of Study - Advanced Entry

Doctoral Proposal ( PHSC 9681 )  may be taken in spring of first year but must be taken before fall of second year.

Pharmaceutical Science Colloquium ( PHSC 6810 )  must be taken six months before dissertation defense.

Advanced entry into the Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Discovery PhD program requires a master's degree in pharmaceutical sciences or a related area and focuses on various advanced research courses and successful defense of the dissertation. An applicant's transcripts are required to be reviewed by the admissions committee to ensure they are eligible to be in the advanced entry program.

Annual review Qualifying examination Dissertation committee Dissertation proposal Dissertation defense

10 total semester hours required Minimum 3.000 GPA required

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Master of Science (MSc) in Medicinal Chemistry

About the programme

What makes the programme at ucph unique, what specialisations does the field of study offer, online open house, considering studying at ucph this september, admission and application.

To apply for admission to this master's degree programme, you must have completed a qualifying bachelor’s degree or a similar Danish or international degree programme which is assessed to be relevant. Apply for admission via the application portal.

Below, you can read more about admission requirements and which documents to upload in the application portal. 

Click here to submit your application

Academic admission requirements.

Here you'll find the different academic requirements depending on which qualifying degree you hold.

Study programmes with legal right of admission

You have legal right of admission if you have a

• Bachelor’s degree in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Copenhagen

This means that you are guaranteed a place on the master’s programme in Medicinal Chemistry if you apply in time to begin within 3 years after the completion of your bachelor’s degree.

Study programmes that meet the admission requirements

You meet all academic requirements if you hold one of the degrees listed below:

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry with a specialisation in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Copenhagen
• the course NKEA05040U Advanced Organic Chemistry [Videregående organisk kemi (VO)]
• a bachelor’s project in Pharmaceutical Sciences [course code SFABIL110U] within the scientific disciplines of medicinal chemistry and/or experimental organic chemistry

Note, that having a bachelor’s degree that automatically fulfil the admission requirements does not guarantee you admission to the programme.

Other Danish or international degrees

You must hold a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, medicinal chemistry or pharmacy and have accumulated credits in chemical and biological disciplines.

In your bachelor’s degree you must have accumulated:

• At least 80 ECTS credits on chemistry courses in the fields of organic and physical chemistry with the emphasis on theoretical and experimental chemistry courses
• At least 30 ECTS credits from biology courses in the fields of biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology and pharmacology, of which at least 5 ECTS credits must come from within general pharmacology

Graduation year requirement

You must have earned your bachelor’s degree within a maximum of 5 years prior to the start of the first semester of the master’s programme, e.g. for the intake in the autumn of 2025, you must have graduated by September 2021 or thereafter. In exceptional circumstances the Admissions Committee may waive the graduation year requirement.

If your bachelor’s degree is too old, you can apply for an exemption from the graduation year requirement. If you choose to apply for an exemption, you must submit the following documents along with your application for admission:

• A letter explaining how you have maintained your academic qualifications since graduation (e.g. relevant work, internships, further studies)
• Relevant documentation (e.g work contracts, diplomas etc).

Limitation on second degrees

If you already have a master's degree from Denmark or another country, you can, in principle, only be admitted to a new degree programme if there are places available on the programme for which you are applying for admission.

Please read more about limitation on second degrees

Supplementary courses to fulfil the admission requirements

When we assess whether you meet the admission requirements for the master's degree program, Danish legislation only allows us to assess your bachelor's degree. Consequently, you cannot study supplementary courses between bachelor's and master's degree programs in order to meet the admission requirements.

If you have passed courses/projects before you complete the qualifying bachelor's degree, these can be included in the assessment, even though they are not part of the bachelor's degree program.

• It applies to courses/projects you have taken as single subjects and courses/projects you have taken as part of another study program.
• A maximum of 30 ECTS credits of these courses/projects may be included.

Language requirements

Applicants to a master’s programme taught in English must document their English language proficiency in accordance with the language requirements for admission.

Applicants with legal right of admission

If you have legal right of admission to the programme that you are applying for, you are not required to document your proficiency in English.

Applicants with a Danish upper secondary education

If you have completed your upper secondary education in Denmark, you must upload a copy of your upper secondary education diploma as documentation for your English proficiency.

All other applicants

All other applicants must document qualifications equivalent to the Danish upper secondary school ‘English level B’ or ‘English level A’.

Your documentation must be valid at the application deadline that applies to you.

• Citizens from a country outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland: 15 January
• Citizens from Denmark, EU, EEA or Switzerland: 1 March

We accept the following ways of documenting English qualifications equivalent to the Danish upper secondary school ‘English level B’ or ‘English level A’:

1. Upper secondary school degree, bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in English

You have completed an upper secondary school degree, bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in English in one of the following countries

• Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, or USA

You must upload a copy or scan of your official school diploma as documentation.

The degree must be a minimum of 2 years of studies. A student exchange semester/year is not sufficient documentation for English proficiency.

2. Upper secondary school diploma from Denmark or one of the Nordic countries

You have studied an upper secondary school diploma in Denmark or one of the Nordic countries.

You must upload a copy or scan of your transcript from a Danish upper secondary school to document that you have passed English level B or higher.

If you have passed a Nordic entrance examination with an English level comparable to the Danish level B or higher, you must upload your transcript that documents the subjects you have passed.

3. International Baccalaureate (IB) upper secondary school diploma

You must upload a copy or scan of your transcript to document that you have passed one of the following levels:

• English A1, A2 or B, higher level (HL),
• English A1 or A2 standard level (SL)
• English A Literature or English A Language and Literature, higher Level (HL) (from 2013)
• English A Literature or English A Language and Literature, standard Level (SL) (from 2013)
• English B, standard level (SL)

4. European Baccalaureate (EB) upper secondary school diploma

You must upload a copy or scan of your transcript to document that you have passed the course:

• English language 1 (LI), English language 2 (LII) or English language 3 (LIII) with a minimum score of 50%

The EB must be passed at one of the European Schools placed in Copenhagen, Bruxelles, Luxembourg, Mol, München, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe, Varese or Alicante.

5. English B or English A as Single Subject Course in Denmark – e.g., VUC

You must upload your transcript from the educational institution as documentation that you have passed:

• Danish upper secondary school 'English level B' (Engelsk B) or
• Danish upper secondary school ‘English level A’ (Engelsk A).

6. You hold Abiturzeugnis from Germany

• English Leistungsfach (LF) OR
• Erhöhtes Anforderungsniveau (eA) OR
• Kernfach (KF) OR
• Profilfach/Profilgebendes Fach (PgF)

All with a maximum score of 4 (Ausreichend).

7. All other applicants

You must document that you have passed one of the following accepted tests:

• IELTS Academic (taken at an IELTS test centre, online, or Home Edition)
• TOEFL iBT, TOEFL iBT paper edition or TOEFL iBT Home Edition
• Cambridge Advanced English or Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) 

Deadlines for sending your documentation

Your test must be valid at the application deadline that applies to you:

• Deadline for citizens from a country outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland: 15 January
• Deadline for citizens from Denmark, EU, EEA or Switzerland: 1 March

Your application will be rejected if you have not provided sufficient documentation for English proficiency by your application deadline.

The IELTS and TOEFL results are only valid if they are not older than 2 years counted from the application deadline. There is no limitation for validity for the Cambridge tests.

Documentation by passed English proficiency test

Application deadlines

Study start in september, 1 march at 23:59.

Application deadline for Danish applicants and applicants from within the EU, EEA and Switzerland. Open for applications from 16 January. You will receive a reply by 10 June.

15 January at 23:59

Application deadline for applicants from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland. Open for applications from 15 November. You will receive a reply by 1 May.

Submit your application

How to apply

Choose your category and read how you apply for admission. You can also find information about deadlines and documentation requirements. 

Please note that you must also select according to your citizenship:

• Citizen from Denmark, EU, EEA or Switzerland (EU)
• Citizen from countries outside EU, EEA or Switzerland (NON-EU)

International bachelor's degree - EU

Danish bachelor's degree - eu, international bachelor's degree - non-eu, danish bachelor's degree - non-eu, apply as a current- or former student, how we assess your application.

The programme accepts a maximum of 50 students.

If the number of qualified applicants to the programme exceeds the number of places available qualified applicants will be prioritised according to the following criteria:

• Grade point average from the bachelor’s degree
• Grade point average from courses in organic chemistry (including physical chemistry) and biological courses (including fields of biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology, and pharmacology)

Admission rules

Important dates, application help, have you submitted your application, programme structure.

The MSc in Medicinal Chemistry is a 2-year programme taught in English and there are approximately 40 students in a year.

The programme is known for its cooperation with industry, since there is a close concentration of biotech and pharmaceutical companies in the region. Medicon Valley, as the hub is called, is home to almost 300 ‘life science’ companies.

Teaching forms are lectures, classroom teaching, computer exercises, laboratory work and research projects. 

Depending on your choice of study plan, these are the approximate numbers.

• 40 % mandatory courses
• 10-35 % elective courses
• 25-50 % thesis 

The first year consists of five compulsory courses and electives. In the second year, you can tailor a specialised academic profile, as you take elective courses and write your thesis.

Read the programme curriculum

Compulsory courses

The first year consists of five compulsory courses within the following subject areas: medicinal chemistry, structure-based drug discovery, advanced organic chemistry, and biopharmaceuticals - core subjects in modern drug discovery research.

Elective courses and academic profiles

If you wish to specialise within a certain area of medicinal chemistry, you can choose to focus your study programme, giving you an academic profile.

Your profile could be within one of the areas listed below or another tailor-made combination of elective courses and your thesis project, which align with your competences and interests.

Your elective courses are not limited to these profiles and could also include data science or other areas of your interest.

Profile in Synthetic Organic Chemistry

With this profile you will be a specialist in synthesizing druglike molecules – that is, the actual active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The majority of new APIs are still small molecules with a molecular weight of less than 500 Da. These small molecules are most often made by advanced chemical synthesis methods; hence a thorough knowledge of organic chemistry is needed to become a skilled synthetic medicinal chemist.

You can take advanced chemistry elective courses to develop your competences within theoretical and experimental organic chemistry. These competences might be very useful for you as a future medicinal chemist working with drug discovery or scale-up in drug development departments.

Profile in Biopharmaceuticals

If you would like a specialised focus on peptide- and protein-based drugs and other biopharmaceuticals, you can specialise in biopharmaceuticals.

The specialisation consists of a number of elective courses with relation to biopharmaceuticals. You will get insights into discovery and early development of biopharmaceuticals. Additionally, you will learn how these groups of drug molecules can be used to solve questions on the borderline between chemistry and biology or be used as potential drug compounds.

Profile in Structure-Based Drug Design

Almost all drugs interact with proteins, which are structurally very diverse and have many different functions. Since proteins are involved in almost all biological processes that sustain life and diseases, they are natural drug targets. Hence, it is possible to treat the symptoms of disease by using drugs that change protein activity. That may sound simple, but in practice it is a major challenge. A good starting point in the production of new drugs is to elucidate the three-dimensional structure of the target molecule. The drug’s role is to open or close the functionality of the protein. Medicinal chemists can use this knowledge to design drugs.

Profile in Radiopharmaceutical Chemistry

The profile consists of elective courses that will develop your competences within radiopharmaceutical/nuclear chemistry research, development, and production processes.

The profile in radiopharmaceutical chemistry is established in a close collaboration between Rigshospitalet (the university hospital in Copenhagen) and the Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology at the University of Copenhagen.

Short internships/research projects

As part of your electives, you can choose to do a short internship or research project (called an individualised study unit) either at research groups at the University of Copenhagen or at, for instance, a medical company. Your lecturers may have academic input and contacts, but please note that finding the place and supervisor for this is on your own initiative.

Read more about the individualised study unit

Study abroad

It is possible to study abroad during your degree. Your third semester is best suited for studying abroad but it will require a modified study plan. Alternatively, you can choose to write part of your thesis abroad. It is also possible to take a summer course in place of an elective.

Why Study Abroad?

A main objective of studying abroad is to further widen your academic knowledge and network. You are also likely to benefit socially and culturally.

It is a good idea to seek advice from lecturers and the student guidance when planning your studies abroad to find out where to go and how to structure your academic programme. Your lecturers may have academic input, international contacts, and may also be able to provide you with references which can prove useful.

Exchange Agreements

The University of Copenhagen has an extensive number of exchange agreements with universities worldwide.

Information about partner universities specific to Medicinal Chemistry is available through the International Relations Office at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.

Student Mobility at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Researchers at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences and the Faculty of Science offer a wide range of thesis subjects.

You can carry out your thesis project in a research group at the Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, the Department of Chemistry or any other relevant department at the university. Also, there are opportunities to write an industry-based thesis in Denmark or abroad.

All research groups involved in the programme enjoy close cooperation with relevant medicinal chemistry departments in pharmaceutical companies of Medicon Valley. This cooperation is a key element of several programme courses as well as thesis-related work. The close contact established during the programme is also expected to play an important role in the transition from study to professional career.

Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology

Department of Chemistry

Medicon Valley

Combining organic chemistry, pharmacology and biology

Birgit Isabel Gaiser, second year, MSc in Medicinal Chemistry

Why Choose the MSc in Medicinal Chemistry?

I had always been interested in pharmaceuticals. Therefore, I was looking for a master’s programme in organic chemistry with focus on drug research after I had finished my bachelor’s degree in chemistry. I found this programme in Copenhagen which met my expectations. The whole application procedure was nice and I felt very welcome so it was easy to make up my mind.

I had also hoped to find a better education. In Germany, we have mostly ‘teacher-centred instruction’ where only the lecturer is talking. In Denmark it is different. You have ‘student-centred instruction’ with a lot of group work. My expectations were met and I am glad I came here.

Medicinal Chemistry - a Mix of Organic Chemistry and Pharmacology

For me, one of the particularly good things about the programme is the combination of organic chemistry, pharmacology and biology. I did not want to be ‘only’ a chemist and not ‘only’ a biologist or pharmacologist. 


Job Opportunities

Since my programme is rather small and new, I think that might be a unique selling point. I hope that the combination of organic chemistry, pharmacology and biology allows me to find a job as a medicinal chemist.

Studying at the MSc in Medicinal Chemistry

A big difference to my BSc is that we have fever classes. In the beginning it actually feels like you have a lot of time off. Therefore it was a bit difficult to get used to self-studies, but it is good that you actually have time to dig into a topic. 

I also like the group work. In many ways, this is what actually made the progress in my studies. First of all, the group work keeps you studying during the course, so that in the end you do not have to start from scratch with the preparation of the exams. Secondly, as the group members were from different countries and had various scientific backgrounds, the group discussions did not only broaden my academic views, but also my world view. And I do not want to miss that in my life.

A Typical Day?

I think it is difficult to describe a typical day because as a student you might have a day without classes and then you might stay at home and study. Or you might go to meet your group mates to do the group work. And then you might have another day where you have courses from 8 a.m. til 5 p.m. But now that I started my thesis, I am in the lab every day.

Study Environment and Extra-curricular Activities 

The study environment is very good. There are a lot of study rooms and we have a nice library. The teachers are nice. You can ask them whatever you want. 

We also have social activities. We do a lot of things after school, like meeting for a coffee, exploring the city, hanging out, doing sports or going out. 

In the beginning, we had some introduction days with a lot of social activities where we also met the students of the MSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences, the other international programme at PharmaSchool. It is nice to know a lot of people when you walk around campus.

Dreaming of small molecule drug design

Emil Glibstrup, second year, MSc in Medicinal Chemistry

What made you choose the MSc in Medicinal Chemistry?

I took a Bachelor’s degree in Medicinal Chemistry at the UCPH Chemistry Department and it seemed like a natural follow up. I am interested in medicinal chemistry and organic chemistry. I think it is a nice combination of organic chemistry and the more medicinal field.

Medicinal Chemistry is organic chemistry combined with the medicinal development of pharmaceutical drugs, so it is combined with some of the more pharmaceutical subjects. It is good because you have the interaction between the different scientific subjects. Which is different from if you only took a MSc in Chemistry.

So far I have e.g. learned a lot about the development of drugs. And also the use of computers to use for the development of drugs, to do structure based drug design.

Which expectations did you have when you started at the MSc in Medicinal Chemistry?

I expected good organic chemistry and also some insights into the pharmaceutical industry and the people you are going to interact with, pharmacists and professions like that. And my expectations actually have been met. For example, I can to some degree choose my own courses. So I can actually create the profile that I want.

Study Environment

I think it is a good study environment. I am not originally from the UCPH Pharmaceutical Department, but I felt really welcome when I came here. There is a good welcome with an introduction week and a nice introduction to the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

I definitely think it is important to have a good social study environment and to find somebody you can actually study with. For example, it makes the exam preparations a lot better if you can practice in front of another student who understands you and can ask intelligent questions.

Thesis and Job Opportunities

I just signed my thesis contract. I am going to synthesis on small molecules active on nicotine acetylcholine receptors.

I see a lot of job opportunities, because Medicon Valley is right here in the region and I always think that there is need for an organic synthetic chemist. Right now, I think my dream job would be at company like Lundbeck or Leo Pharma doing small molecule design of drugs.

Career opportunities

The educational profile is in high demand, because the programme is pharmaceuticals-oriented and focuses on medicines and the development of drugs and related products.

You can expect to find work in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotech industry that conducts research into new drugs. In the industry, you will work with other research scientists in the drug field to design and synthesise new compounds with the potential to become future drugs.

Another important job area for medicinal chemists is working with patent experts and others to ensure that new drugs are patented.

Competence Description

When graduating, you will have acquired knowledge about:

• The rational basis for design and development of drugs
• New and effective methods of synthesis for incorporation of the most important functional groups
• The relationship between molecular structure and biological activity at the molecular level, including the importance of steric, stereochemical, conformational and electrostatic factors
• Structural chemical methods that can be used in the rational design of drugs
• Solid-phase methods of synthesis used to make peptides and peptide derivatives, including peptidomimetics
• The significance of conformational, steric and electronic factors with regard to regio- and stereoselective syntheses of drug candidates
• Physical-chemical parameters important for the development of potential drug substances.

You are able to:

• Analyse and evaluate methods of synthesis to choose an optimal strategy for the synthesis of a target molecule
• Design, plan, and conduct advanced syntheses on the basis of a critical review of articles in international journals and patent literature
• Use and critically evaluate results achieved by modern computer-based methods for structural-activity analyses of biologically active compounds (potential drugs)
• Explain the key principles used for the rational basis of design and development of new drugs
• Explain the most important chemical, physical-chemical and pharmacokinetic properties of important groups of drugs
• Explain the properties and reactivity of heteroaromatic compounds
• Plan chemical modifications of proteins and estimate the effects.

Competences

• Plan, carry out and report on research and development projects. For example, related to the design and production of new small molecule and macromolecular drugs in cooperation with scientists from other disciplines
• Plan and conduct advanced organic chemical syntheses as well as syntheses and modifications of peptides, proteins etc. relevant to the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries.

Career Opportunities

Your qualifications as a Medicinal Chemistry graduate are applicable in other contexts in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, and biotechnical industries, for example, in connection with the design, production, and development of potential new drugs.

Examples of employment opportunities

• PhD programmes and industry science positions within organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and drug discovery.
• Development of new radioactive entities including routine production of radiopharmaceuticals for diagnosis and therapy at hospitals and pharmaceutical companies.
• Patenting such as positions in pharmaceutical companies and private- or public-sector patent agencies.
• Developing effective, safe, robust synthesis procedures for use in high-volume production of the active drug substance.
• Chemistry and manufacturing control (CMC) as an employee of a parent company or a Contract Research Organisation (CRO).
• Regulatory affairs and Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC).

Collaboration with industry

The University of Copenhagen is located in the midst of one of the world’s leading biotech areas – Medicon Valley – home to almost 300 ‘life science’ companies. The School of Pharmaceutical Sciences is known for its collaboration with industry.

One of these collaborative endeavours is the school’s own Drug Research Academy (DRA). DRA covers all key research areas in drug development from research, development and production to clinical testing.

This close concentration of biotech and pharmaceutical companies in the region coupled with the school’s collaboration with industry provides good opportunities for students to build contacts to future employers during their studies.

There are excellent opportunities to find student jobs related to the field and to initiate thesis projects at one of the many companies in the area.

Medicon Valley Alliance

Medicinal chemist to develop remote-controlled drugs

Jacob Ingemar Olsen recently completed his MSc in Medicinal Chemistry. The international study programme has paved the way for a budding research career. Jacob is a PhD student at the University of Copenhagen where he, among other things, conducts research into the transport of medicinal-chemical molecules in the body.

I have a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry and have always been interested in the medicinal aspects of chemistry – especially drug discovery. The MSc programme in Medicinal Chemistry truly satisfied my big appetite for organic synthesis chemistry. Designing and developing new molecules in the laboratory is truly exciting as small units may have a huge effect on people, whether healthy or ill. Basic research fascinates me, but research also needs to be applicable outside the laboratory. Now I am employed as a PhD student at the Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen where I do research on particular sugary substances which, in the long term, will be capable of transporting drugs in the body in a controlled manner.

Release of drugs in the right place

Almost all patients prefer taking their medicine orally – in the form of pills, for instance. However, this imposes high demands on the composition of the drug, especially if you want to ensure that the drug is released in a specific place in the body at a specific time. The complex interaction between the molecular properties of the drug and the physiological conditions in the body determine whether the drug is released into the blood – and whether it happens at the right time and place.

Among other things, my PhD project focuses on further developing and rearranging the molecules in a special group of sugary substances called cyclodextrins. They can actually function as a type of preprogrammed transporters of an active drug. The sugary substance surrounds the drug molecules like an extra cloak, making it easier to control the release of the active drug in the body. Imagine that the sugary substance functions as a kind of remote-controlled suitcase. This is the long-term goal, but my project is conducted at a very basic level.

International study environment fostered research career

The MSc programme in Medicinal Chemistry is influenced by the many international students who choose to take a medicinal degree in Denmark. The interaction between people of so many different nationalities sharing the same academic interest creates an incredibly dynamic environment. The international environment also prepares the students for a career in the medicinal industry where English is generally the working language. The same is true for the research community, where I am now. Most of my international fellow students have found jobs in Denmark, and many of my Danish fellow students have moved abroad after graduation.

I met my Spanish girlfriend during my studies. The world of medicine is global, which you can already sense during your study programme.

Student life

When you study medicinal chemistry, you will be part of an international and vibrant study environment. You can join a lot of clubs, extracurricular activities and social events. You also follow courses with students from other programmes and meet up with your fellow students in the student cafe.

PharmaSchool has won awards for best study environment and older students make an effort to welcome new students to PharmaSchool.

You will primarily be studying at the University of Copenhagen’s North Campus.

Read more about North Campus

Studying at the University of Copenhagen

Diversity and inclusion at the university of copenhagen, finding accommodation.

Contact student guidance

Sund study information.

If you have questions about 

• the MSc programme
• the study environment
• your career opportunities

Application and admission

If you have questions about

• application procedure

Please contact [email protected]

Do you have questions about digital application? Check our user guide to the application portal.  

In case of technical problems, please contact the IT Helpdesk by

• Mail: [email protected] // Tel: +45 35 32 27 00
• Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, North Campus, Universitetsparken 2, DK-2100 København.

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