KU News Release

LAWRENCE — A doctoral student in medicinal chemistry at the University of Kansas has received a highly prestigious and competitive $26,000 fellowship from the American Chemical Society Division of Organic Chemistry, sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Roche.

Alison Donnelly of Grand Island, N.Y., is one of 11 students nationally selected to receive the ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Graduate Fellowships, each worth $26,000, to support their graduate studies.

Donnelly is studying traits of a type of protein known as Hsp90 that cancer cells must have to proliferate. By targeting Hsp90, researchers hope to find effective cancer drugs that attack and halt malignant cell growth. Donnelly is among more than 20 graduate students working in the laboratory of her research adviser Brian S.J. Blagg, associate professor of medicinal chemistry.

“I am working on a novel class of Hsp90 inhibitors that lack the toxicity and shortcomings of those now in clinical trials,” Donnelly said, also noting its promise and versatility. “Unlike other cancer therapies, Hsp90 inhibition allows simultaneous disruption of multiple avenues for cancer progression, which gives it broad applicability and the capacity to treat many different kinds of cancers.”

Donnelly came to KU after earning bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and Spanish in spring 2006 from Case Western Reserve University. She received a master’s degree in medicinal chemistry from KU in summer 2009. She is the daughter of Thomas Donnelly of Buffalo, N.Y., and Martha Donnelly of Grand Island, N.Y., and a graduate of the Nardin Academy in Buffalo.

“I had always loved science,” she said. “Chemistry fascinated me and I was drawn more to a research rather than clinical setting. I worked in a wide range of laboratories and a wide range of research but found organic chemistry to be my favorite.”

For that, she credited Irene Lee, her Case Western Reserve undergraduate organic chemistry professor, who introduced Donnelly to organic chemistry and urged her to continue with graduate studies in medicinal chemistry as a way to apply chemistry toward the improvement of human health. After she completes her KU doctoral degree, she hopes to work as a leader in the pharmaceutical industry focusing on the development of anti-tumor agents.

Among strengths that attracted her to the KU graduate medicinal chemistry program, Donnelly noted “the intriguing research, strength of the program and collaborative nature of the department.”

Last year, Micah Niphakis, also a KU doctoral student in medicinal chemistry, received a $24,000 fellowship from the American Chemical Society Division of Medicinal Chemistry for his research into plant compounds that kill cancer cells.

Earlier this year, significant research into the cancer-fighting potential of Hsp90 inhibitors earned Blagg national recognition from the American Chemical Society Division of Medicinal Chemistry. He received the 2009 David W. Robertson Memorial Award, sponsored by the Pfizer Endowment Fund, given annually to “scientists under the age of 40 who have made seminal contributions to the discovery of novel therapeutic agents, or who have made substantial contributions and discoveries in medicinal chemistry.”

The society acknowledged Blagg for his work to create inhibitors of Hsp90 that have promise as cancer fighters. Because Hsp90 folds other proteins and helps them to achieve their correct three-dimensional shape, hindering the process can obstruct the constant proliferation of cancer cells.