Robert N. Young

Biography

  Dr. Robert N. Young is a Professor at Simon Fraser University. B.Sc. (Hons) - University of Victoria Ph.D. - University of British Columbia D.I.C. - Imperial College  

Research Interest

Chemical Biology, Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Discovery Molecular probes for discovery and validation of biological drug targets, enzyme inhibitors, biological receptor agonists and antagonists, rapid parallel synthesis, synthetic methods, structure activity relationships, molecular modeling, mass spectrometry, radioactive synthesis, drug design and optimization. Our laboratory will undertake the design and synthesis of small molecule probes to aid in understanding disease processes and to discover novel targets and therapies for treatment. The goals will be to characterize gene family expression in disease states, to discover and validate novel biological targets and to develop proof of concept (POC) molecules to test the benefits/liabilities of intervention at a target. For validated targets we will optimize POC molecules and leads from design or screening through parallel synthesis to discover potential drug candidate molecules. Specific goals include: The design, synthesis and optimization of novel bone growth stimulants as new drugs for treatment of osteoporosis. The design and synthesis of enzyme inhibitor probes for discovery of novel targets and development of drug candidates for the treatment of inflammation and atherosclerosis. The design and synthesis of probes to map the in vivo expression of enzymes and discover novel targets involved in diabetes and cancer. The design and synthesis of enzyme inhibitor probes to define the roles of cell autophagy (self-eating) and apoptosis in cancer.