Specialty:
Drug Design and
Development
Location:
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical
Campus
School of Medicine Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Prerequisites:
Students must
have completed 2 years of college including Organic Chemistry.
Number of openings: 2
Program objective:
The program
objective is to learn and perform fundamental translational research techniques.
Program description:
Dr. Wempe is a Physical/Synthetic
Organic Chemist (PhD) with Chemical and Pharmaceutical work experience.
His laboratory uses chemical synthesis (organic
and bio-organic) to produce known and novel compounds which are subsequently
screened (in vitro and in vivo) for biological activity. His
laboratory also conducts fundamental research in drug development (metabolism,
pharmacokinetics, and toxicity).
Research activities include:
- Medicinal
Chemistry - rational drug design and Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR)
elucidation;
- computational chemistry;
- drug metabolism and pre-clinical
safety assessment;
- developing novel technology to improve oral
bioavailability of small molecules; and v) bio-analytical pharmacokinetic
(BAPK) method development and analysis.
There are a variety of research activities
occurring within his laboratory; two major efforts include the development of
LAT1 selective inhibitors for use in cancer research and therapy, and another
involves the development of URAT transporter inhibitors in the development of
novel cardiovascular agents. Dr. Wempe is the Director of the Medicinal
Chemistry Core facility at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.