KU News Release

LAWRENCE — Three doctoral students in medicinal chemistry at the University of Kansas have received $18,000 in fellowships from the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education for their research on developing cancer-fighting drugs.

Gary Brandt, Adam Duerfeldt and Linda Cherise Blake, all of Lawrence, are among 46 students each receiving a $6,000 fellowship to support the research and dissertation phases of their doctoral programs.

“All three graduate students and their faculty mentors are working on cancer-related projects,” said Ken Audus, dean of the School of Pharmacy. “Their work reflects in part the School of Pharmacy’s continuing research contributions in support for KU’s pursuit of the National Cancer Institute designation.”

Brandt and Duerfeldt earned master’s degrees in medicinal chemistry from KU this spring and are recipients of KU’s prestigious Madison and Lila Self Graduate Fellowships for doctoral students. Both also work with Brian Blagg, associate professor of medicinal chemistry, who was honored earlier this year for his pioneering work on potential cancer treatments by the American Chemical Society’s Division of Medicinal Chemistry.

Blake’s research related to lung cancer earned her an award at KU’s Graduate Student Research Competition this spring. She works with Emily E. Scott, assistant professor of medicinal chemistry.

Brandt is working on using natural products as lead compounds in drug discovery. His research is titled ”The Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Chimeric, Conformationally Constrained Biased Hsp90 N-terminal Inhibitors.” Last year, he received an American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education pre-doctoral fellowship worth $6,000 for his research. Brandt has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Georgia State University and is a graduate of Milton High School, Alpharetta, Ga.

Duerfeldt is studying the synthesis of chimeric molecules. His research is titled “Natural Products as Lead Compounds in Drug Discovery: The Investigation of Cruentaren A, Gedunin and the Ansamycins.” Last year, he received from the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education an $11,000 Josiah Kirby Lilly Memorial Pre-Doctoral Fellowship for his work in drug synthesis as it relates to cancer treatment. Duerfeldt received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Central College in Pella, Iowa, and graduated from Urbandale (Iowa) High School.

Blake’s research focuses on the prevention of lung cancer in smokers. She is studying enzymes that break down foreign chemicals for removal from the body, normally a beneficial process. However, in smokers, one version of this enzyme in the lung activates a form of nicotine into carcinogens that cause lung cancer. Blake is identifying potential drugs that could shut down this process in smokers and thereby reduce the risk of lung cancer for those unable to beat their addiction to nicotine. Her research is titled “Lung Cancer Chemoprevention: Selective Inhibition of Cytochrome P450 2A13.” Blake has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Seattle Pacific University and is a graduate of Liberty Christian High School in Richland, Wash.

The American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education of Rockville, Md., helps to solve an increasing shortage of pharmacy college faculty and an emerging shortage of pharmaceutical industry scientists trained in drug development and manufacturing technology.

“Given the present tightening of employment in the pharmaceutical industry, this is an opportune time for AFPE to reward outstanding graduate students and encourage their consideration of the growing numbers of opportunities in academia,” Audus said.

A 2008 study by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy predicts nearly 20 percent of full-time faculty positions in U.S. schools of pharmacy will be vacant compared to 11 percent in its 2006 study. By 2015, that percentage is predicted to be 40 percent.

KU has 60 pharmacy faculty in full- and part-time appointments and about 420 students in the doctor of pharmacy professional degree program, six students in a pharmacy practice joint master’s degree/residency program, 120 doctoral students and 80 post-doctoral research associates. In addition, about 150 practicing pharmacists with bachelor’s degrees in pharmacy are enrolled in a Web-based program leading to a nontraditional doctor of pharmacy degree.

For the past eight years, KU has ranked in the top five U.S. schools of pharmacy in funding from the National Institutes of Health; this year it was third.

Established in 1885, the School of Pharmacy is the only accredited program in Kansas and consists of four academic departments: medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacology and toxicology, and pharmacy practice.