CHEMICAL BIOLOGY RESEARCH BRANCH

Branch Sections

• Drug Design and Synthesis
Neuropsychopharmacology

Translational Pharmacology

Branch Overview

Branch Chief: Kenner C. Rice, Ph.D.

Organic/medicinal chemistry, basic neurobiology, and pharmacology are the foundations for the multidisciplinary approach that the Chemical Biology Branch utilizes to study the processes involved in addiction. A major research direction is the elucidation of the structure and function of neurotransmitter systems in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) in normal, drug-altered and pathological states and the molecular mechanism of action of CNS active drugs.

Drug Design and Synthesis Section - Click for larger version

Drug Design and Synthesis Section

Section Chief: Kenner C. Rice, Ph.D.

• Medicinal chemistry of drugs acting on central and peripheral opioid receptors, CRH receptors, and toll-like receptors
  
• Rational design and chemical synthesis of novel agonists, antagonists, imaging agents, and affinity ligands
• Medicinal chemistry in the study of alcohol abuse, hallucinogenic drugs, and drugs acting on biogenic amine receptors

Integrative Neuroscience Section - Click for larger version

Neuropsychopharmacology Section

Section Chief: Eliot L. Gardner, Ph.D.

• Basic brain mechanisms underlying drug addiction, craving, and relapse
• Endocannabinoid brain mechanisms and addiction
• Dopamine D3 receptor antagonists
• Glutamatergic compounds, with emphasis on the metabotropic glutamate receptor
• GABAergic agonists, with emphasis on the GABA-B receptor
• Slow-onset long-acting dopamine transport inhibitors
• Drugs acting on the endocannabinoid brain system