In this Issue:
Greetings,
May 12th we will be hosting Dr. Don Pivonka of Astra Zeneca at Eggspectation
at 923 Ellsworth Drive in Downtown, Silver Spring, MD. We hope that you can
make time in your busy schedule to attend. Reservations will need to be made
in advance.
Local sections allow the opportunity to meet and network with people working
in various capacities in various industries, that may be working on problems
related to your work, or specific areas of interest in which you may not be
able to justify traveling to a national or international meeting to learn about.
It is also an opportunity to see old friends or colleagues or to meet new friends
and colleagues. It is not necessary to be a member of the Society for Applied
Spectroscopy to attend, friends, colleagues, spouses, significant others, are
invited as well.
A number of the former local section officers, including myself, have volunteered
to continue to support the local section as officers. If you have interest in
a well paid career in a professional society, this is not it, however, if you
have interest in the opportunity serve as an officer in the local section, please
let one of us know. The web site for the local section is supported by Mike
Epstein and is at: http://www.mikeepstein.com/bwsas/index.html If you have not
been to the web site, check it out!
Hoping to see you at the May 12th tour speaker meeting.
John S. Canham, Ph.D.
Acting Chair 2009
Baltimore-Washington SAS section
Photos from the meeting:
Meeting Announcements
Tuesday, May 12, 2009- National SAS Tour Speaker
Don
Pivonka
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals
1800 Concord Pike
Wilmington, DE19850
Vibrational Spectroscopy in Today's Pharmaceutical Research Environment
Abstract
No comprehensive discussion of Raman spectroscopy in drug discovery can take
place without an understanding of the synthetic, analytical and business landscape
of the modern pharmaceutical industry. With the extreme pressure on medicinal
chemistry groups to deliver quality compounds into development on restricted
time and personnel scales, the role of analytical chemistry in support of these
groups is also under pressure.
In this environment, the successful implementation of vibrational spectroscopy
mandates its application in coordination with a large range of other extremely
powerful analytical technologies, including HPLC, HPLC/MS, a host of NMR techniques,
x-ray crystallography, etc. No longer is the ability to solve a problem through
application of a particular technique sufficient. The selected approach must
now provide the most convenient, fastest and most cost effective solution if
it is to remain in mainstream awareness of discovery teams.
One application where vibrational spectroscopy has found success within pharmaceutical
research centers on its use as a tool with which to gain further understanding
of how both the physical structure and the electronic properties of a candidate
drug molecule are related to activity within a biological assay, i.e., the structure-activity
relationship (SAR). In this context, vibrational spectroscopy was first developed
as a tool for identification of the molecular subcomponents within a compound
series, which play an active role in binding kinetics. Secondly, vibrational
spectroscopy has exhibited utility in uncovering electronic trends within both
pendant functional groups and the molecular backbone scaffold, which foster
the binding process.
The ability of this technique to differentiate electronic from geometric parameters
of the ligand-receptor interaction will be specifically addressed. The success
of this technology opens the door to a much broader investigation of ligand-receptor
interaction.
Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Place: Eggspectation Restaurant,
923 Ellsworth Dr., Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
Time: 6 pm Social Hour, 7 pm Dinner, 8 pm Seminar
Cost: $20 (Students $10)
Menu Options:
Reservations: Please make your reservations by NOON, Thursday, May 7, 2009 by calling Kris Patterson (301-504-0640), John Canham (301-902-4185) or Jeb Taylor (301-796-0026). IF YOU RESPOND VIA E-MAIL, FOR THIS MEETING PLEASE SEND ELECTRONIC RSVP's TO: kris.patterson@ars.usda.gov. If approaching the deadline contact John Canham or Jeb Taylor, contact information in header.
Directions:
Driving: From the Washington Beltway Exit 31B S. (Georgia Ave.)
go toward downtown Silver Spring (South), about 1.9 miles. When you past Colesville
Rd (Rt29), Ellsworth Drive will be the next Left. To park, go past Ellsworth
Drive and take the next left on Wayne Ave. (This is the second left and the
second light past Colesville Rd.). Park in the Wayne Avenue Garage. The garage
is in the first block and on the left. Eggspectation is in the shopping center
on Ellsworth Drive directly behind the Wayne Avenue garage. If you leave the
garage after 8pm you do not have to pay for parking at the pay machine when
you park. The garage exit gate is always opened after 8 PM.
Metro: When leaving the Silver Spring Metro Train Station at Colesville Rd and East West Highway go north on Colesville Rd for 3 blocks. Turn right on Georgia Ave. Turn left on to Ellsworth Drive (the first left). Eggspectation is in the shopping center on your right.
Your Baltimore-Washington Section Officers for 2007-2008:
Links to other local scientific organizations and conferences of interest:
Chemical
Society of Washington, CSW, Local Section of the American Chemical Society
Past Issues of the Baltimore-Washington Section Newsletter (including Historical Events in Chemistry for those months)
April/May Historical Events in Chemistry and Spectroscopy by Leopold May, Department of Chemistry, Catholic University
Go to
the National SAS Home Page