Chalcone is the organic compound C6H5C(O)CH=CHC6H5. It is an α,β-unsaturated ketone. A variety of important biological compounds are known collectively as chalcones or chalconoids. They are widely known bioactive substances, fluorescent materials, and chemical intermediates.
George Wilhelm Herman Emanuel Merck was the president of Merck & Co. from 1925 to 1950 and a member of the Merck family and son of the founder of George Merck.
Miguel Angel Ondetti was an Argentine-born American chemist who first synthesized captopril, the first ACE inhibitor that was used to treat heart disease. With his co-worker, David Cushman, he won the 1999 Lasker Award for: "developing an innovative approach to drug design based on protein structure and using it to create the ACE inhibitors, powerful oral agents for the treatment of high blood pressure, heart failure, and diabetic kidney disease".
Pindaros Roy Vagelos is an American physician and business executive, who was president and chief executive officer (1985) and chairman (1986) of the American pharmaceutical company Merck & Co..
Inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase 4 are a class of oral hypoglycemics that block the enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4). They can be used to treat diabetes mellitus type 2.
Sitagliptin, sold under the brand name Januvia among others, is an anti-diabetic medication used to treat type 2 diabetes. In the United Kingdom it is listed as less preferred than metformin or a sulfonylurea. It is taken by mouth. It is also available in the fixed-dose combination medication sitagliptin/metformin.
Saxagliptin, sold under the brand name Onglyza, is an oral hypoglycemic of the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor class. Early development was solely by Bristol-Myers Squibb; in 2007 AstraZeneca joined with Bristol-Myers Squibb to co-develop the final compound and collaborate on the marketing of the drug.
Kathryn Uhrich is Dean of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, at The University of California, Riverside, and founder of Polymerix Corporation. She has received many awards for her research and work including the ACS Buck-Whitney Award and the Sioux Award. She was a fellow at both the National Academy of Inventors and the American Chemical Society in 2014.
Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors are enzyme inhibitors that inhibit the enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4). They are used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Inhibition of the DPP-4 enzyme prolongs and enhances the activity of incretins that play an important role in insulin secretion and blood glucose control regulation. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disease that results from inability of the β-cells in the pancreas to secrete sufficient amounts of insulin to meet the body's needs. Insulin resistance and increased hepatic glucose production can also play a role by increasing the body's demand for insulin. Current treatments, other than insulin supplementation, are sometimes not sufficient to achieve control and may cause undesirable side effects, such as weight gain and hypoglycemia. In recent years, new drugs have been developed, based on continuing research into the mechanism of insulin production and regulation of the metabolism of sugar in the body. The enzyme DPP-4 has been found to play a significant role.
John Clark Sheehan was an American organic chemist whose work on synthetic penicillin led to tailor-made forms of the drug. After nine years of hard work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), he became the first to discover a practical method for synthesizing penicillin V. While achieving total synthesis, Sheehan also produced an intermediate compound, 6-aminopenicillanic acid, which turned out to be the foundation of hundreds of kinds of synthetic penicillin. Dr. Sheehan's research on synthetic penicillin paved the way for the development of customized forms of the lifesaving antibiotic that target specific bacteria. Over the four decades he worked at M.I.T., Sheehan came to hold over 30 patents, including the invention of ampicillin, a commonly used semi-synthetic penicillin that is taken orally rather than by injection. His research covered not only penicillin, but also peptides, other antibiotics, alkaloids, and steroids.
Ralph Franz Hirschmann was a German American chemist who led a team that was responsible for the first organic synthesis of an enzyme, a ribonuclease.
The Research & Development Council of New Jersey is a nonprofit organization which advocates for progress in various research and development sectors in the state of New Jersey. Its membership includes representatives from academia, industry, and government. Members of the council are offered services such as policy analysis and recent news in the fields of science research. The Research & Development Council of New Jersey was the principal fundraiser for the construction of the Liberty Science Center, and it also funds a dozen scholarships for New Jersey students yearly. The organization was established in 1962 and is based in Newark.
Charles T. Kresge is a chemist and retired Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Saudi Aramco. He was R&D Vice President at the Dow Chemical Company. His area of expertise is inorganic synthesis, and his primary field of research is in the area of crystalline aluminosilicate materials, particularly for the discovery of mesoporous molecular sieves.
Process chemistry is the arm of pharmaceutical chemistry concerned with the development and optimization of a synthetic scheme and pilot plant procedure to manufacture compounds for the drug development phase. Process chemistry is distinguished from medicinal chemistry, which is the arm of pharmaceutical chemistry tasked with designing and synthesizing molecules on small scale in the early drug discovery phase.
The Gordon E. Moore Medal is an award given yearly by the Society of Chemical Industry to someone who has displayed early career success involving innovation in chemical industries. Success is judged in terms of both market impact and effects on quality of life of their work.
Athula Buddhagosha Attygalle is a Sri Lankan scientist who works as a professor in the field of mass spectrometry in the United States. He was awarded the "Inventor of the Year" award in 2014 by the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame for his work in mass spectrometric analysis utilizing helium plasma and charge-exchange ionization techniques. In 2017 Attygalle won an Edison Patent Award from the Research and Development Council of New Jersey for his patented work in mass spectrometric analysis utilizing helium-plasma and charge-exchange ionization techniques, and the Arnold Berliner Award in 2021.
Ann E. Weber is the senior vice president for drug discovery at Kallyope Inc. in New York City. She previously worked with Merck Research Laboratories (MRL), joining the company in 1987 and retiring from the position of vice president for lead optimization chemistry in 2015. She has helped develop more than 40 drug candidates including FDA-approved treatments for Type 2 diabetes. She has received a number of awards, including the Perkin Medal (2017) and has been inducted into the ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry’s MEDI Hall of Fame.
Nancy A. Thornberry is the founding CEO and current chair, R&D at Kallyope Inc. in New York City. She previously worked with Merck Research Laboratories (MRL), joining the company in 1979 as a biochemist and retiring from the position of senior vice president and franchise head, diabetes and endocrinology in 2013.
Gunda I. Georg is a chemist who is currently the Professor and Head of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Chair, Robert Vince Endowed Chair at University of Minnesota and a former Co-Editor-in-Chief of American Chemical Society's Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. Her research interests are total synthesis and semisynthesis as well as evaluating biologically active agents. A cited expert in her field, she was elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1996 and inducted in the Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame in 2017. In 2019, she was announced as the 2020 winner and first woman to receive the Alfred Burger Award in Medicinal Chemistry. She along with chemists, Shameem Syeda and Gustavo Blanco, are leading researchers in male contraception. Dr Georg also works with her research groups to conduct research on Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy and cancer experimental therapeutics.
Daria J Hazuda is a biochemist known for discovering the first HIV Integrase Strand Transfer Inhibitors (InSTIs) and leading the development of the first HIV integrase inhibitor to gain FDA approval, Isentress (raltegravir). Her lab also determined these inhibitors' mechanism of action and ways the virus could develop resistance to them. Hazuda has also performed extensive research and led the development of antivirals for Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) including Elbasvir and Grazoprevir. She currently serves as Vice President for Infectious Diseases Discovery for Merck and Chief Scientific Officer of their MRL Cambridge Exploratory Science Center.
