Thursday, November 5th, 2009@ 6:30 PM (reception at 6 PM)
Galbraith Marine Science Auditorium

Dr. Pamela Hallock Muller, Professor of Marine Science, University of South Florida
 
Coral Reefs in the 21st Century: Is the Past the Key to the Future?

Want to learn more about history and the future of coral reefs?  By studying the geologic record and modern coral reefs, Dr. Pamela Hallock Muller will provide insights not only into environments of the past and present, but also the potential effects of human activities on the future of Earth's ecosystems.  Her research has implications for cell biology, coral reef ecology, environmental management, global environmental change, evolution, paleoceanography, sedimentology, and hydrocarbon exploration.  Her ongoing or recently completed projects include decadal-scale changes in reef communities of the Florida Keys, development of bioindicators applicable to reef environments worldwide, effects of potentially toxic elements (e.g., arsenic, heavy metals) on foraminiferal assemblages in tropical environments, larger benthic foraminifers in Miocene reef communities, and effects of ocean acidification on calcification in benthic organisms.   Dr. Pamela Hallock Muller received her Ph.D. at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and is a Professor of Biogeological Oceanography in the College of Marine Science at the University of South Florida.

Thursday, November 12 at 6:30 PM   (reception at 6 PM)

Galbraith Marine Science Auditorium

Dr. Mukund Chorghad, Chief Scientific Officer, THINQ Pharma

Fascinating Adventures in the Progress of a Drug from Conception to Commercialization

Process Chemistry / Route Selection are important activities in the path of a drug from discovery to market. The medicinal chemistry routes for synthesis are usually low yielding and are fraught with capricious reactions, tedious chromatography and problems in scale-up. Considerable research efforts have to be expended in developing novel, cost efficacious and scalable processes and seamlessly transferring these technologies to manufacturing operations. These principles will be exemplified by our process development efforts on an anti-epileptic and an anti-asthma drug.  Several problems are currently associated with the use of biological systems in studying drug metabolism. In vitro studies produce very small quantities of the product. Primary metabolites are often hydrophilic and difficult to isolate.  Animals studies necessitate the sacrifice of animals and are extremely expensive to conduct. Liver slice preparations are of variable potency; it is difficult to quantitate the precise stoichiometry of the oxidant.  Many of the metabolites are not amenable to organic synthesis by conventional routes. We present rare examples of porphyrin-mediated oxidations of sophisticated pharmaceutical entities. The reactions (mimics of cytochrome P-450) are generally applicable and have been used in our laboratories to achieve hydroxylation and N-demethylation on numerous other substrates. This approach affords and efficient method for the systematic preparation and identification of the entire spectrum of metabolites from a chosen drug. 

Dr. Mukund Chorghade is President of Chorghade Enterprises and Chief Scientific Officer, THINQ Pharma, where he provides consultations to pharmaceutical companies on collaborations with academic, government and industrial laboratories. He advises technology based companies on process re-engineering and project management of technology transfer; establishes strategic partnerships and conducts cGLP/cGMP training and implementation in academic and industrial laboratories. He oversees projects in chemical route selection, process development, chemical manufacturing and formulation of bulk actives to finished dosage forms. Dr. Chorghade earned his B.Sc. and M. Sc. degrees from the University of Poona in India and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Georgetown University in Washington, D. C. in 1982. He completed postdoctoral appointments at the University of Virginia and Harvard University, visiting scientist appointments atUniversity of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada and College de France/Universite Louis Pasteur and directed research groups at Dow Chemicals, Abbott Laboratories, CytoMed and Genzyme. He was the recipient of three "Scientist of the Year Awards" and had the honor of being a featured speaker in several national and international symposia. He is active in ACS, is NESACS Chair and is on the International Activities Committee.

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