Ott Lecture to explore how new drugs are discovered

How are new drugs discovered? This question will be answered by chemist and educator Brian Shoichet during the Arnold C. Ott Lectureship in Chemistry at Grand Valley.

The presentation will take place October 5 at 6 p.m. in the Grand River Room of the Kirkhof Center on the Allendale Campus. A reception will take place prior to the lecture at 5 p.m.

During his presentation, Shoichet, professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), will discuss the social, economic and technological events over the past 70 years that have enabled the development of new drug discovery. He will also touch on the regulatory and technological challenges of modern drug research and new scientific discoveries that are driving this research forward.

Shoichet will also facilitate a chemistry seminar on October 6, at 1 p.m. in the Kirkhof Center’s Pere Marquette Room.

Shoichet additionally oversees the Shoichet Laboratory at USCF. There, he and his team strive to develop new methods of drug discovery by breaking down biology to the molecular level in order to identify how different components fit together using synthetic molecules designed in the lab. The team also investigates how biological molecules operate together, both in health and disease.

The Arnold C. Ott Lectureship in Chemistry was created and endowed by a gift from the late Arnold C. and Marion Ott. Arnold Ott was a leading chemist and entrepreneur in West Michigan. He was also one of the co-founders of Grand Valley and served on the Board of Trustees for 28 years.

For more information, contact Grand Valley’s Chemistry Department at (616) 331-3317 or visit gvsu.edu/chem.