Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry David Lapinsky, Ph.D., recently received two separate grants to fund different research projects.
In February, Dave won a Hunkele Dreaded Disease research award worth $11,342 to support the project “Target Identification of an Exercise-Induced Appetite Suppressant.” The next month, he received a $6,000 Faculty Development grant to support the project “A Chemical Approach to Discover New Drug Targets and Mechanisms to Treat Cancer.”
The Lapinsky Lab specializes in creating special compounds to help determine how potential drugs affect the body and find the best fits for treating diseases, thus designing better medicines.
Dave graduated from the Duquesne University School of Pharmacy with a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree in 1997 and returned to teach just over a decade later after earning a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from The Ohio State University and completing aa post-doctoral appointment at Johns Hopkins University. The ability to teach and pursue research encouraged Dave to return to Duquesne University as a faculty member–in addition to the opportunity to help train future pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists.
“I believe that the most important way that you can spend your life is to invest it in something that will outlast it,” Dave said. “Via teaching and mentoring students within the Duquesne University School of Pharmacy, I aim to contribute to the world in multiple ways that will live on long after I am gone.”
Jacob Betzner 