Faculty Profiles

Sherri C Young

Associate Professor, Chemistry
Director, Muhlenberg Center for Teaching & Learning
Chemistry
484-664-3271

[email protected]

Education

  • Ph.D., chemistry, Lehigh University
  • B.S., chemistry, Albright College

Teaching Interests

Organic chemistry is at the core of my teaching interests. In all of my courses, I describe the medicinal and biological applications of organic chemistry as well as real-world examples. In addition, I am fascinated by the pharmaceutical industry and the drug discovery and development process. Some of my recently developed courses (medicinal chemistry and pharma: a scientific approach) cover these topics in detail. I have an interest in further contributing to the integrative learning curriculum, either in the form of a linked course or a standalone interdisciplinary course. 

Research, Scholarship or Creative/Artistic Interests

My research interests lie at the interface of chemistry and biology. Broadly, I am interested in improving the pharmacokinetics (PK) and clinical efficacy of known drugs by altering their physicochemical properties. It is a common misconception that drugs only fail because of weak receptor binding or high toxicity. Drugs can also fail to reach the market because of poor PK properties. Hence, there is a large and accessible arsenal of viable drug leads just waiting to be improved upon.  

Drugs intended to treat CNS disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) often suffer from low clinical efficacy because they are blocked entrance to the brain by the blood-brain barrier (BBB).  My current research focuses on improving the BBB permeability of known drugs by linking them to high-permeability shuttles. My students use solid-phase organic synthesis, a method that involves a reagent or product attached to a polymer bead. This is used to synthesize peptidomimetics, column chromatography for purification and thin layer chromatography, NMR spectroscopy, high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry for product characterization. Finally, an in-vitro membrane permeability assay is used to assess the BBB permeability of these novel compounds. 

 

  • Chemistry Independent Study/Research NSAID Analog Synthesis
  • Chemistry Independent Study/Research: NSAID Drug Design
  • Chemistry Independent Study/Research: In Vitro Analysis of NSA
  • Chemistry Independent Study/Research: NSAID In Vitro Study
  • Chemistry Independent Study/Research: PAMPA of NSAID Analogs
  • Chemistry Internship: Muhlenberg College
  • CUE: Chemistry Capstone Seminar
  • Dana Scholars Directed Studies: NSAID Drug Design
  • MUHLES Research Apprenticeship
  • Organic Chemistry I
  • Organic Chemistry IA
  • Organic Chemistry II
  • Organic Chemistry IIA

*Indicates corresponding or presenting author
**Student co-authors are underlined

Select Publications

  • Young, SC.* Incorporating Inter-Lab Collaborations into the Organic Chemistry Teaching Labs, J. Chem. Educ., 2021, 98, 2848-2860.

  • Eden, BD; Rice, AJ; Lovett, TD; Toner, OM; Geissler, EP; Bowman, WE; Young, SC.* Microwave-Assisted Synthesis and In Vitro Stability of N-Benzylamide Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug Conjugates for CNS Delivery, Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2019, 29, 1487-1491.

  • Young, SC.* A Systematic Review of Antiamyloidogenic and Metal-Chelating Peptoids: Two Structural Motifs for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease. Molecules 2018, 23, 296-310.

  • Young, SC;* Colabroy, KL; Baar, MR. Comparable Educational Benefits in Half the Time: An Alternating Organic Chemistry Laboratory Sequence Targeting Pre-Health Students. J. Chem. Educ. 2016, 93, 2004-2011.

  • Young, SC;* Smith, KT; DeBlasio, JW; Hamann, CS.* Utilizing NMR to Study Structure and Equilibrium in the Organic Chemistry Laboratory. In NMR Spectroscopy in the Undergraduate Curriculum: First Year and Organic Chemistry Courses Volume 2; Soulsby, D; Wallner, T; Anna, L, Eds.; ACS Symposium Series 1221; American Chemical Society: Washington, D.C., 2016.

  • Smith, KT; Young, SC; DeBlasio, JW; Hamann, CS.* Measuring Structural and Electronic Effects on Keto-Enol Equilibrium in 1,3-Dicarbonyl Compounds. J. Chem. Educ. 2016, 93, 790-794. 

Select Oral and Poster Presentations

  • Young, SC.* Organic Chemistry Laboratory Experiences that Simulate Real-World Collaborations. In Abstracts of Papers, 259th American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition (Virtual), March 22-26; American Chemical Society:  Washington, DC, 2020; CHED-0068.
  • Rice, A; Eden, B; Bowman, W; Lovett, T; Geissler, E; Young, SC.* Synthesis of Peptoid- and N-Benzylamide-Based Blood-Brain Barrier Shuttles. In Abstracts of Papers, 256th American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition, Boston, MA, August 19-23; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2018; ORGN-295.
  • Rice, A;* Eden, B; Bowman, W; Lovett, T; Geissler, E; Young, SC. Design and Synthesis of Anti-Inflammatory Drug Derivatives for Potential CNS Delivery. In Abstracts of Papers, 256th American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition, Boston, MA, August 19-23; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2018; CHED-268.
  • Young, SC; Rice, A;* Kim, Y; Wiest, A; Bowman, W.* Exploring the utility of peptidomimetics as blood-brain barrier shuttles. In Abstracts of Papers, 45th Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Hershey, PA, June 4-6; American Chemical Society:  Washington, DC, 2017; MARM-359.
  • Young, SC;* Colin, G. Pharma: Friend or foe? Development, Implementation, and Assessment of a Cross-Disciplinary Non-Majors Course About the Pharmaceutical Industry. In Abstracts of Papers, 45th Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Hershey, PA, June 4-6; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017; MARM-252.
  • Young, SC;* Staretz-Greenfield, ME; Francis, C; Husic, HD; Heindel, ND; Bertucci, MA. Development and Evaluation of a Team-Taught Online Course in Medicinal Chemistry. In Abstracts of Papers, 45th Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Hershey, PA, June 4-6; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2017; MARM-37.

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