Enhancing animal and human health: Chemistry’s Pitre awarded NIH R35 grant

Enhancing animal and human health: Chemistry's Pitre awarded NIH R35 grant

Monday, November 11, 2024

Media Contact: Elizabeth Gosney | CAS Marketing and Communications Manager | 405-744-7497 | [email protected]

Oklahoma State University chemistry professor Spencer Pitre recently received an R35 grant award of $1,820,030 from the National Institute of Health that will support research contributing to the enhancement of human and animal health.

"Our research aims to develop sustainable syntheses of medicinally relevant molecules using visible-light-mediated reactions of carbon-centered radicals," Dr. Pitre said. "Specifically, our lab focuses on developing new reactions that engage a broader range of radical precursors, providing new avenues for bond-forming reactions that would otherwise be difficult to achieve."

The R35 grant is a Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA), which aids investigators' laboratories that fall within the mission of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). MIRA grants generally fund 5 years of research and provide investigators with greater stability and flexibility for scientific productivity.

"It means a great deal to be awarded such a prestigious grant from NIH," Pitre said. "I am extremely grateful to the wonderful group of students I work with in my lab who have made all this possible. It is great to see their hard work pay off and this funding from NIH will provide the support that they need to continue to pursue their research goals."

Support provided by the National Institute of Heath under this grant helps OSU continue its status as a center for innovation and discovery in fundamental chemistry research.

"This means a large number of research opportunities for OSU graduate and undergraduate students - opportunities where they get to focus on scientific discovery," said Dr. Christopher Fennel, Department of Chemistry interim chair. "This is a fantastic development for Spencer. It is recognition by the scientific community that he is doing great work, and everyone is excited to see how his science will grow and develop over the coming years."

Many of the research projects in the Pitre Lab are geared toward medicinal chemistry applications, as the ability to synthesize a diverse array of chemical structures is critical for the discovery and manufacture of new pharmaceuticals.

"One example of this is the recent COVID-19 pandemic, where medicinal chemists had to very quickly generate new pharmaceuticals to fight this disease that had debilitating effects on the world," Pitre said. "The synthetic methods we develop in our lab will provide new tools that will help streamline drug discovery and development, thereby positively impacting public health."

Learn more about Pitre's research here.

Story By: Adeola Favour, CAS graduate assistant | [email protected]

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