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Research Spotlight

On Dec. 11, 2014, Bob Vince won the Impact Award for his development of the ground-breaking AIDS drug, Ziagen. 

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.

Cyanide is one of the deadliest poisons around. Your body can handle a little of it, but for larger exposures an antidote is necessary. Current antidotes can work, but they're slow. That could change, however, now that three researchers at the University of Minnesota's Center for Drug Design (Profs Steve Patterson, Robert Vince and Herbert Nagasawa) have synthesized Sulfanegen, a faster-acting antidote.

Based on research conducted at the Center for Drug Design (CDD), Sulfanegen, a treatment for cyanide poisoning, will be developed and marketed. Sulfanegen could be administered by first responders in the case of a mass casualty emergency, or to victims of smoke inhalation from a house fire.