Michael Rogers, Ph.D. Expert in Small-Molecule Chemistry
My name is Mike Rogers.
I’m the Director of the Division of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry
in NIGMS.
And one of the branches that we have in this division is
related to
supporting research that deals with chemistry and biochemistry,
and so we’re sort of the small molecule people of NIGMS. We’re
interested in small molecules that occur naturally in the body,
and how those get processed, and the
roles that they play
in various physiological processes,
and how those can be
manipulated to improve health.
We’re also interested
in how those molecules get made,
so we’re interested in the chemistry of those molecules
as well as the etymology of those molecules,
and we have portfolios of grants that deal with the synthesis of small molecules.
This is important because if you want to do drug design and development,
you have to be able to make the compounds that you’re interested in testing.
So, we have a major program in synthetic organic chemistry.
We also support research that deals with metal ions
in terms of bio and organic chemistry,
and how those ions get transported in the body,
how they get utilized by the body,
and what their role is in people’s health.
So we support a range of activities that
deal with the production of,
and the study of how small molecules in the body act.
And this is a basic science that’s necessary to do
in order to support studies that are ongoing,
in the pharmaceutical industry and in clinics around the world
and improving human health.
National Institute of General Medical Sciences National Institutes of Health March 2011
