Robert Vince (born November 20, 1940) is an American scientist known for his contributions to the research in the area of drug design. He is currently the director and professor at the Center for Drug Design at the Academic Health Center for the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

Biography

Robert Vince was born in

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, New York. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy in 1962, Vince joined the research group of Prof Howard J. Schaeffer at

SUNY Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

in New York, where he obtained his doctoral degree in medicinal chemistry. He subsequently joined the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

for a brief stint as assistant professor of medicinal chemistry. In 1967, he joined the medicinal chemistry faculty at the

.Singh, R.; Vince, R. “2-Azabicyclo .2.1ept-5-en-3-one: Chemical Profile of a Versatile Synthetic Building Block and its Impact on the Development of Therapeutics" ''Chemical Reviews'' 2012, ''112,'' 4642–4686. In 2002, Vince established the Center for Drug Design within the Academic Health Center of the University of Minnesota, where he continues as director and maintains his research program.

Career Contributions

As a graduate student, Vince’s research on the design of acyclonucleosides, with Howard J. Schaeffer at SUNY Buffalo became an integral part of the discovery of anti-viral drug

acyclovir Aciclovir (ACV), also known as acyclovir, is an antiviral medication. It is primarily used for the treatment of herpes simplex virus infections, chickenpox, and shingles. Other uses include prevention of cytomegalovirus infections following t ...

. Later, Prof Schaeffer continued the development of

at Burroughs Welcome & Company, with pharmacologist

Gertrude B. Elion Gertrude "Trudy" Belle Elion (January 23, 1918 – February 21, 1999) was an American biochemist and pharmacologist, who shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with George H. Hitchings and Sir James Black for their use of innovat ...

who was awarded the 1988

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

in Medicine, in part, for the development of

. Dr. Vince continued his work on antiviral drug candidates at the University of Minnesota, where he went on to develop carbocyclic nucleosides termed 'carbovirs'. This class of medicinal agents included the drug abacavir. Abacavir was commercialized by

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the ten ...

Ziagen Abacavir, sold under the brand name Ziagen among others, is a medication used to treat HIV/AIDS. Similar to other nucleoside analog reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), abacavir is used together with other HIV medications, and is not rec ...

for the treatment of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

. Sales from Ziagen have resulted in generation of more than 600 million US dollars in royalties for the University of Minnesota. His synthesis of abacavir made use of a bicyclic γ-lactam, 2-azabicyclo .2.1ept-5-en-3-one, as a chemical precursor. In recognition of his contribution to the development of this field,

Chemical and Engineering News ''Chemical & Engineering News'' (''C&EN'') is a weekly news magazine published by the American Chemical Society, providing professional and technical news and analysis in the fields of chemistry and chemical engineering.Vince lactam’ in 2003. Vince lactam has since been utilized to prepare several drugs and pharmaceutical candidates.

Recognition

For his work, Vince has received recognition from several avenues. He was elected as the Fellow of AAAS by

The American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsi ...

in 2000. He was inducted into the Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

in 2007. Vince was awarded Honorary Doctorate of Science Degree by his alma mater SUNY Buffalo, and the prestigious Imbach Townsend Award by the International Society for Nucleosides, Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids, in 2010. The same year, Minnesota Inventor’s Congress inducted him into Minnesota Inventors Hall of Fame, along with Nobel laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug (posthumously). In 2011, he was inducted into Minnesota Science & Technology Hall of Fame. In 2017, the New York State Senate adopted a legislative resolution commending him upon the occasion of his designation as a 2017 Inductee into the Auburn Alumni Hall of Distinction. He was honored at the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Annual Conference as an NAI Fellow in 2018, and recently was selected for the Innovation Impact Case Award (2022). * May 2022: Awarded Innovation Impact Case Award 2022 * May 2018: Honored with National Academy of Inventors' Fellow status, Houston, TX * April 2017: New York State Senate resolution K281, NY * September 2014: Upper Midwest Regional Emmy Award - Executive Producer, Choo Choo Bob Show - Best Children's Show * March 2014: Charles W. Hartman Memorial Lecture - 2014,

, MS * September 2013: Upper Midwest Regional Emmy Award - Executive Producer, Choo Choo Bob Show - Best Children's Show * February 2013: David Chu Lectureship – 2013,

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, GA * November 2011: Inducted into Minnesota Science & Technology Hall of Fame * September 2010: Inducted into Minnesota Inventors Hall of Fame, along with Nobel laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug (posth.), by the Minnesota Inventor’s Congress * August 2010: Received 2010 Imbach Townsend Award from the International Society for Nucleosides, Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids * April 2010: Received Honorary Doctorate of Science Degree from SUNY Buffalo * September 2009: Elected to the University of Minnesota’s AHC Academy of Excellence in Health Research * August 2007: Inducted into ACS Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame * 2006: Recognized on ‘Scholars Walk and Wall of Discovery’ at the University of Minnesota * 2000: Elected as Fellow of AAAS by The American Association for the Advancement of Science

References

External links

Center for Drug Design
University of Minnesota

Minnesota Science and Technology Hall of Fame

Minnesota Inventors Hall of Fame

International Society for Nucleosides, Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vince, Robert 21st-century American chemists 1940 births Living people University at Buffalo alumni