Amanda E. Hargrove is a chemist and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

(Durham, North Carolina, United States). Hargrove is also the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of ''

Medicinal Research Reviews ''Medicinal Research Reviews'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes reviews on topics related to medicinal research. It is published by Wiley and was established in 1980. The editor-in-chief is Amanda E. Hargrove (Duke Un ...

'', and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of

Arrakis Therapeutics Arrakis Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing oral medicines that target RNA to treat a range of diseases. The company is based in Waltham, Massachusetts, and was founded in 2015 by Jennifer Petter, now the company's Chief Innov ...

. At

, Hargrove directs an interdisciplinary research program in chemical biology that focuses on harnessing the specific interactions between small molecules and RNA, and using those RNA-small molecule interactions to probe the structure, and function of RNA. The long-term goal of the group's research is to identify specific molecule-RNA interactions that may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of viral infection and human disease. She has received numerous awards for her scientific research, teaching, and service in support of

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Academic career

Hargrove attended Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and received her B.S. in Chemistry and Spanish in 2004. As an undergraduate student, she conducted research with John D. Spence on the synthesis and Bergman cyclization of meso-tethered enediyne-porphyrins. Hargrove conducted her graduate work with Professors Eric V. Anslyn and Jonathan L. Sessler at the University of Texas, Austin, and earned her Ph.D. in 2010 for her thesis, ''Combining recognition motifs for improved sensing and biological activity of oligosaccharides and phosphorylated molecules''. From 2010 to 2013 she was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow in Chemistry at

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

, where she worked in the lab of Peter B. Dervan and conducted research on DNA-binding polyamides as inhibitors of a prostate-specific response gene in prostate cancer. Her postdoctoral work also focused on optimizing conditions to increase solubility of pyrrole-imidazole polyamide DNA-binding molecules as a strategy to increase their biological activity (these are a class of potential DNA-targeting therapeutics). Hargrove became assistant professor in the department of chemistry at Duke University in Durham, NC in 2013 and earned promotion to associate professor with tenure in 2020.

Research

Hargrove's research program focuses on organic chemical synthesis and screening of small molecules that have specific interactions with different RNA structural motifs. The aim of the research is to identify small molecules that can target the specific RNA structures found in viruses. Hargrove's research program has identified RNA-binding molecules that can inhibit replication of Sars-CoV-2 virus and enterovirus (the virus that causes hand, foot, and mouth disease). The potential application of small molecules to treat various viral infections including enterovirus (Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease) and SARS-CoV-2 has been discussed in popular media including the New York Times.

Awards and honors

Hargrove has received numerous awards and honors: * 2022 Rising Star Award from the American Chemical Society Women Chemists Committee. * 2021 Cram Lehn Pedersen Prize. * 2020 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow. *2020 Duke University Dean's Diversity Award. *2018 National Science Foundation CAREER Award. *2017 Cottrell Scholar Award from Research Corporation for Science Advancement. *2015 Brent Nicklas-Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award. *2014 Ralph E. Power Junior Faculty Enhancement Award.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hargrove, Amanda E. Duke University faculty Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Trinity University (Texas) alumni University of Texas at Austin alumni American women chemists American academic journal editors American women academics