Event
BIOE Seminar: Tackling Cancer and Infection with Light-Responsive Molecules
Friday, April 15, 2022
9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
A. James Clark Hall, Room 2121
Joe Huang
hchuang@umd.edu
Sherri McFarland
Department of Chemistry
University of Texas at Arlington
Tackling Cancer and Infection with Light-Responsive Molecules
About the speaker:
Sherri McFarland's research interests include translational drug discovery for cancer and infection, coordination complexes, metallodrugs and medicinal inorganic chemistry, photodrugs and photomedicine, photodynamic therapy (PDT), photochemotherapy (PCT), photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT), phototherapy, photochemistry and photophysics, chemical synthesis, chemical biology, immunomodulators and immunomodulating therapies, photosensitizing natural products, photodynamic inactivation (PDI).
Abstract:
Photomedicine is an interdisciplinary field where chemistry and light meet to fight
disease. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a special branch of photomedicine that
employs a sensitizer molecule, light, and oxygen to destroy target cells with
spatiotemporal selectivity. Using a multidisciplinary approach, we have
introduced both synthetic compounds and natural products as photosensitizers
for PDT. Both have successfully completed Phase 1 clinical trials and are
currently in Phase 2 clinical trials. This seminar will share some of our stories in
developing metallodrug photosensitizers for treating bladder cancer and
photoactive plant extracts for improving oral health. If time permits, some new
directions will be highlighted.
