April 2010 Meeting
The three hundred and eighty sixth meeting of the American Chemical Society Susquehanna Valley Section will be held on Wednesday, 14 April 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in Room 206 of the Science Building at Marywood University. The meeting will be preceded by a reception and dinner from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at La Cucina Restaurant, 600 S. Blakely St., Dunmore, PA. The guest speaker is Deanne Dulik Garver, Ph.D. of Marywood University who will present a talk entitled "Alvimopan: Science and Serendipity for the Medicinal Chemist".Directions: see below.
Reception and Dinner: from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at La Cucina Restaurant, 600 S. Blakely St., Dunmore, PA. The phone number is 570-341-8747. The dinner will be served a la carte and there will be a cash bar. If you are interested in attending the dinner, please RSVP to Lacey Hessling-Yzeik at 570-348-6265 or lhessling@maryu.marywood.edu by 4:00 pm on Monday, April 12. The restaurant is on S. Blakely St. approximately 0.6 miles past the intersection with Drinker St (on right). The restaurant is approximately 2 miles (5 min drive) from campus.
Alvimopan: Science and Serendipity for the Medicinal Chemist
Alvimopan is a potent and selective mu opioid receptor antagonist that has been jointly developed for post-operative ileus following bowel resection surgery by Adolor Corporation and GlaxoSmithKline. The discovery of alvimopan as a potential pharmaceutical agent was a matter of both science and serendipity. Mu opioid receptors exist in both the central and peripheral nervous systems and mediate pain signals throughout the body. The discovery of a compound which could antagonize the effects of morphine or other opioid analgesics in the gastrointestinal tract (an area rich in opioid receptors) without affecting the analgesic response in the brain lead to the development of a medicine that could be used effectively patients undergoing bowel surgery. The physicochemical properties of alvimopan make it ideally suited to act to antagonize the peripheral effects of morphine following surgery while allowing morphine to continue to act centrally to relieve pain. As a result, patients who take alvimopan following their surgeries can recover their GI function much sooner and therefore be discharged from the hospital sooner. The discovery of alvimopan is an example of how several scientific disciplines can effectively collaborate to produce a safe and specific new medicine.
Dr. Garver obtained a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry at Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University and did postdoctoral research in biomedical mass spectrometry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She joined GlaxoSmithKline (then Smith Kline and French Research Labs) in 1987 in the Department of Drug Metabolism and spent 11 years in positions of increasing responsibility, including 3 years as Cardiopulmonary Project Director. In 1998, Dr. Garver joined a startup biopharmaceutical company, Adolor Corporation, as Vice President of Preclinical Development. As the company evolved, she assumed leadership of Preclinical R&D, including Discovery Research through support of clinical development. In 2004, Dr. Garver began an independent consulting business for small biopharmaceutical companies, representing preclinical toxicology, drug metabolism and formulation development to worldwide regulatory authorities. In 2009, Dr. Garver joined the teaching staff in the Science Department at Marywood University.
Directions to Marywood University:
From the U.S. Interstate 81, Exit 188 (old exit 55): follow directional signs at the end of the exit ramp toward Dunmore (If you are traveling north on 81, make a left at the light at the O'Neill Highway, which becomes Blakely St.) Follow Blakely St. to traffic light at Drinker St. Turn right onto Drinker St. which merges with Electric St.. Proceed to second traffic light. At this intersection, turn right onto N. Washington Ave., and proceed four blocks. At third stop sign on North Washington, turn right onto Seminary St. Proceed up the hill to the Memorial Arch. Pass through the Memorial Arch. The Science Building is on the right just past the library (which is on the left). Parking is available on the visitor lot around the corner from the Science Building.
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