Irwin (Tack) D. Kuntz, PhD, professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, UCSF School of Pharmacy has been named the 2003 Volwiler Research Achievement Award recipient by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP).

The award is presented annually in recognition of outstanding achievement by an AACP pharmacy educator. Kuntz is an internationally recognized scientist known for his seminal work in computational approaches to drug design, protein structure, and macromolecule-ligand interactions.

He was the first to develop a computer-based molecular docking software program, called DOCK, that calculates and displays in 3 dimensions how potential drugs might attach to target molecules. Computer-based approaches speed drug development by more efficiently "sorting out" or "screening" from millions, and billions, of chemicals those compounds that have the best potential for drug development. The DOCK algorithm is widely used by researchers in academia, pharmaceutical firms, and the biotechnology industry.

Kuntz will be present to receive the Volwiler Award in a ceremony on July 22, 2003 at the AACP annual meeting awards banquet held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. For more information, see Volwiler Research Achievement Award.