Cys-Loop Neuroreceptors: Structure to the Rescue?

Dennis A. Dougherty is the George Grant Hoag Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Bucknell University, and in 1978 he completed his Ph.D. with Kurt Mislow at Princeton University. After a year of postdoctoral studies with Jerome Berson at Yale University, he joined the faculty at Caltech. Professor Dougherty’s research employs the techniques of physical organic chemistry to probe biologically important systems, specifically in the field of neuroscience. He is known for the development of the cation−π interaction, a general noncovalent binding force of pervasive importance in biological systems. More recently, he has pursued chemical-scale studies of neuroreceptors and ion channels, such as the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. Professor Dougherty’s research has been recognized with a number of awards, including the ACS James Flack Norris Award for Physical Organic Chemistry, the AstraZeneca Excellence in Chemistry Award, the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, and the Javits Neuroscience Investigator, NIH. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science. He is also the coauthor with Dr. Eric Anslyn of the influential textbook Modern Physical Organic Chemistry.