Ramakanth Sarabu (June 20, 1955 – February 11, 2021) was an Indian

organic chemist Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J. ...

. He is known for his contributions in diabetes research, specifically the work of Glucokinase activation as a treatment therapy for

type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes, formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urinatio ...

Biography

Ramakanth Sarabu was born in

Hyderabad, Telangana Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. W ...

where he received his early education. He earned a master's degree from

Osmania University Osmania University is a collegiate university, collegiate Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad in 1918 , He released a farma ...

Organic Chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, ...

and his doctorate from

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) is a public technical university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. As one of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), it is recognized as an Institute of National Importance and has be ...

in Molecular Rearrangements from 1979 to 1984. In 1984 he moved to the US to pursue post-doctoral fellowship under

Elias James Corey Elias James Corey (born July 12, 1928) is an American organic chemist. In 1990, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his development of the theory and methodology of organic synthesis", specifically retrosynthetic analysis. Regarded by many a ...

, at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. He did a second post-doctoral fellowship in 1985 at

Case Western University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Rese ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, OH. He is known for his works and contributions in the domain of Glucokinase activation as a treatment therapy for

. He died on 11 February 2021 in Montville,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, while serving as the Head of Chemistry at ''Cellarity''. Prior to that, from 1997 to 2012, he served at Hoffmann-La Roche at different positions like Research Leader, Senior Principal Scientist etc. He then went on to become the Head of Medicinal Chemistry at Biocon Bristol Myers Squibb R&D Center from 2012 to 2019.

Notable publications

* Sarabu R, Grimsby J. Targeting glucokinase activation for the treatment of type 2 diabetes—a status review. Current Opinion in Drug Discovery & Development. 2005 Sep;8(5):631–637. * Allosteric Activators of Glucokinase: Potential Role in Diabetes Therapy, Science Magazine 18 June 2003. * Philip Garner and Sarabu Ramakanth, Stereodivergent synthesis of threo and erythro 6-amino-6-deoxyheptosulose derivatives via an optically active oxazolidine aldehyde, https://doi.org/10.1021/jo00363a044 * Philip Garner and Sarabu Ramakanth, A regiocontrolled synthesis of N7- and N9-guanine nucleosides https://doi.org/10.1021/jo00241a032 * David R. Bolin, Amy L. Swain, Ramakanth Sarabu, Steven J. Berthel etc. Peptide and Peptide Mimetic Inhibitors of Antigen Presentation by HLA-DR Class II MHC Molecules. Design, Structure−Activity Relationships, and X-ray Crystal Structures https://doi.org/10.1021/jm000034h * Glucokinase Activators for Diabetes Therapy – Franz M. Matschinsky, Bogumil Zelent, Nicolai Doliba, Changhong Li, Jane M. Vanderkooi, Ali Naji, Ramakanth Sarabu, Joseph Grimsby, Diabetes Care May 2011, 34 (Supplement 2) S236-S243; DOI: 10.2337/dc11-s236 * Glucokinase activation repairs defective bioenergetics of islets of Langerhans isolated from type 2 diabetics- Nicolai M. Doliba, Wei Qin, Habiba Najafi, Chengyang Liu, Carol W. Buettger, Johanna Sotiris, Heather W. Collins, Changhong Li, Charles A. Stanley, David F. Wilson, Joseph Grimsby, Ramakanth Sarabu, Ali Naji, and Franz M. Matschinsky, American Journal of Physiology. Endocrinology and Metabolism 2012 302:1, E87-E102, https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpendo.00218.2011 * Discovery of Piragliatin—First Glucokinase Activator Studied in Type 2 Diabetic Patients – Ramakanth Sarabu, Fred T. Bizzarro, Wendy L. Corbett etc. https://doi.org/10.1021/jm3008689 * Glucokinase Activators for the Potential Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes, Grimsby, J.; Berthel, S. J.; Sarabu, R.Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry, Volume 8, Number 17, 2008, pp. 1524–1532(9), https://doi.org/10.2174/156802608786413483

Notable Patents

* Para-amine substituted phenylamide glucokinase activators * α-acyl- and α-heteroatom-substituted benzene acetamide glucokinase activators * 5-substituted-six-membered heteroaromatic glucokinase activators * DPP IV inhibitors

References

External links

Ramakanth Sarabu
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Ramakanth Sarabu
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarabu, Ramakanth 1955 births 2021 deaths Organic chemists 20th-century American chemists 21st-century American chemists American people of Indian descent IIT Madras alumni Osmania University alumni People from Telangana