Biophore makes gift to support Dukat’s research
VCU School of Pharmacy associate professor Malgorzata Dukat has received an unrestricted gift from Biophore
to support her research with the school’s Department of Medicinal Chemistry.
Dukat’s research interests include the central nervous system and drugs with emphasis on novel mechanisms in Alzheimer’s disease, depression, pain and drug abuse treatment.
Her tools are classical (synthesis of neurotransmitter receptor and transporters selective ligands) and computational medicinal chemistry (modeling of neurotransmitter receptors and transporters, QSAR studies) as well as pharmacology (animal behavioral assays).
Main interests stress a7 nicotinic cholinergic (nACh) receptors, serotonin (5-HT) receptors, organic cation transporters (OCTs) and a2-adrenoceptors and their subtype-selective agonists (substrates/activators) and antagonists (inhibitors).
A pharmaceutical technology development center, Biophore was founded by Jagadeesh Babu Rangisetty and Manik Reddy Pullagurla. Rangisetty and Pullagurla met while conducting research and studying at VCU.
As a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry from 1996 to 2003, Rangisetty focused on drug discovery relating to the central nervous system. Pullagurla, who earned his Ph.D. at the School of Pharmacy in 2003, was the first recipient of the school’s Lowenthal Award. He focused on developing novel serotonin agents in the lab of Richard A. Glennon, chairman of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry.
Biophore, a United States Food and Drug Administration-approved facility, is based in Balanagar, Hyderabad, India, with a registered office in New Jersey. It focuses on developing novel, patent non-infringing processes for production of active pharmaceutical ingredients. The 5-year-old company has filed more than 20 patent applications to date.
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