Tag: 
Public Health

The New York State Senate recently adopted a legislative resolution commending Prof. Robert Vince upon the occasion of his designation as a 2017 Inductee into the Auburn Alumni Hall of Distinction. 

Prof Swati More, and Prof Robert Vince (Director of the Center for Drug Design), have discovered a potential new drug that works as an antidote to acetaminophen poisoning.

Prof Robert Vince has been awarded the Antonin Holy Memorial Award from the International Society for Antiviral Research (ISAR)

Were drug design a road, it would surely be a Minnesota street fraught with potholes, ice and gravel. Even the best ideas can fall by the wayside somewhere between the lab and your corner pharmacy in the process of drug discovery and development. 

Even in the harshest conditions, life finds a way to thrive. More than 2,300 feet underground in the lowest recess of an old iron mine in northern Minnesota, researchers have found mysterious life in pools of water that they believe might be touching oxygen for the first time in more than 2.4 billion years. 

Even though sun damage may be the furthest thing from your mind right now, don’t let the cool weather fool you. Irreversible skin damage can happen all year round and excessive exposure to the damaging ultraviolet (UV) rays of the sun can have many adverse effects. So, just wear sunscreen, right? Well, here’s the kicker.

University of Minnesota researchers have found that two cancer drugs combined in pill form can be used to fight HIV. The research, published Aug. 30, still has a long road ahead before the pill can be tested on humans — a road that will take years to travel. “The road is littered with the carcasses of failed drug treatments,” said Dr. Keith Henry, director of HIV research at the Hennepin County Medical Center. “Most fail, even if they look good in theory.” But Steven Patterson, associate director of the University’s Center for Drug Design, and one of the scientists who worked on the project, isn’t worried.

Chemical weapons like anthrax, sarin, mustard and ricin often make headlines, but what about the threat of a terrorist attack unleashing cyanide? Some security experts believe the gas threat is real -- and this particular poison acts very fast, making it particularly challenging for first responders.

Bob Vince can't be sure where his becoming a scientist began, but where it led changed the world. As the discoverer of carbovirs, the precursor to the AIDS drug Ziagen, Vince's contribution to humanity can't be underestimated.