Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Scientists Look to Commercial Dyes to Help them Diagnose Dementia

Tue Sep 9, 2025
Gestwicki

Jason Gestwicki, PhD

A new dye screening process from the lab of Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Professor Jason Gestwicki, PhD, could distinguish between different dementias more effectively and earlier in the disease process.

Renslo Boosts Search for New Malaria Drugs

Tue Aug 12, 2025
Renslo
Elisabeth Fall

Adam Renslo, PhD

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Professor Adam Renslo, PhD, is part of a team of UCSF chemists that has remodeled the structures of new malaria drugs to make them more soluble — while maintaining their effectiveness against drug-resistant parasites.

Cancer Drug Discovery: Reaching for the High-Hanging Fruit

Wed Jul 30, 2025

Brian Shoichet Named Chair of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department

Tue Jul 29, 2025
Brian Shoichet, PhD, a nationally recognized biochemist in computational drug discovery, has been named chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry in the UCSF School of Pharmacy. The appointment begins Aug. 1, 2025.

More Than 20 Staff Members Recognized for Contributions During First Half of 2025

Mon Jul 7, 2025
The staff awardees include individuals in many different roles and functions across the school.

The Quest to Reinvent Anesthesia

Wed Jun 18, 2025
Sello (left) and Shoichet (right)

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Professors Jason Sello, PhD, and Brian Shoichet, PhD ’91. (

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Professors Brian Shoichet, PhD ’91, and Jason Sello, PhD, are leading a collaborative research project to scour millions of compounds — with help from tiny zebrafish — to create anesthetics safe enough to use without an anesthesiologist.

Second Annual PSR Symposium Spotlights the Power of Collaboration

Tue Jun 10, 2025
Mahendra Wagle

Bhushan Kharbikar, PhD, with Su Guo, PhD, was one of four poster winners.

The school's second annual PSR Symposium brought together postdocs, specialists, and researchers for a day of scientific presentations, career discussion, and recognition hosted by the Center for Collaborative Innovation.

Wells Lab Shows How Oxygen Deprivation Rewires Pancreatic Tumors

Wed May 28, 2025
Wells

Jim Wells, PhD

Recently published findings reveal how the hypoxic, or low-oxygen, environment characteristic of pancreatic cancer reshapes the proteolytic landscape of the tumor, a discovery that could translate into better diagnostic tools or treatments.

James Fraser Honored with Carl Brändén Award from The Protein Society

Tue May 27, 2025
Fraser

James Fraser, PhD

The Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences chair was honored for pioneering advances in room-temperature X-ray data collection techniques and ensemble modeling methods, which have enabled deeper understanding and engineering of proteins. He has also been a champion of collaborative,...

Proactive, Personalized, Precise: AI and Collaborative Research is Revolutionizing ALS Care

Thu May 1, 2025
Cindy Chew

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Professors Steven Altschuler, PhD, and Lani Wu, PhD

Serendipitous teamwork between Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Professors and lab partners Steven Altschuler, PhD, and Lani Wu, PhD, and Catherine Lomen-Hoerth, MD, PhD, director of the ALS Center at UCSF, is developing a new approach to classifying and treating the complex neurodegenerative...

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