ACS MEDI division news

The mentoring program is run by the Young Medicinal Chemists committee and is a 3-month program that aims to connect chemists from across MEDI. Sign up today!

It is with profound sadness that the Division announces to the Medicinal Chemistry community the passing of Dr. Patrick Woster.

The MEDI division is thrilled to announce the 2023 class of inductees to the Hall of Fame. Congratulations to Dr. Amy Newman, Dr. Donna Huryn, and Dr. Joel Barrish! Please join us at the Fall ACS National Meeting in San Francisco for a reception in their honor.

The E.B. Hershberg Award for Important Discoveries in Medicinally Active Substances was presented to Dr. Ken Jacobson at the ACS Spring National meeting

Gary L. Grunewald, KU Professor Emeritus, passed away peacefully on February 20, 2023, at the age of 85. Gary was born in 1937 in Tekoa, Washington, as the only child of Ruby and Harold Grunewald. After completing his Ph.D. degree at the University of Wisconsin, Gary joined the University of Kansas in 1966 as an assistant professor in the newly created Department of Medicinal Chemistry. He was Chairman of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry from 1994 to 2003 and Interim Dean of KU School of Pharmacy from 1993 to 1994. He received numerous teaching awards, trained nearly 40 Ph.D. students and taught pharmacy students over his 50 year career as a teacher, mentor, and friend to so many. Gary was also active in the medicinal chemistry community external to KU. He served the American Chemical Society Division of Medicinal Chemistry in various capacities including chairman (1993–1994). He was selected as a Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (2006), a Fellow of the American Chemical Society (2010), and was an inaugural member of the Division of Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame (2006). Gary also was a founding board member of the Medicinal and Bioorganic Chemistry Foundation in 1993, a non-profit organization dedicated to education of medicinal chemists in academia and industry.

Gary leaves behind his former wife, Joan, cousins Sheri Riley, Gina Watson Fraser, and James Watson, and many former students and colleagues who have benefited from his teaching and mentoring. In lieu of a service Gary wishes everyone to remember him in their own way. After cremation his ashes will be interred at Jayhawk Cemetery on KU West Campus.

An editorial by our Young Medicinal Chemists Committee entitled "Engaging the Medicinal Chemists of Tomorrow" is now online in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. We hope you will take a look. The editorial can be accessed by clicking here.

Find out how MEDI can expose you to new research and connect you to opportunities in medicinal chemistry, even before you graduate.

Michael E. Jung, of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA, has been awarded the 2022 IUPAC-Richter Prize in recognition of his research, which has afforded new drugs for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.

Interested in a career in medicinal chemistry? Check out this article for some superb advice for early career industrial scientists! Including advice from several MEDI members. "What Matters Most In Your First Five Years"