Richard B. Silverman, was honored with the ACS Award for Creative Invention on April 4, 2017 by the American Chemical Society (ACS) at its 253rd National Meeting and Exposition in San Francisco.
He is cited for his “fundamental enzyme inhibitor work resulting in his invention of pregabalin, which has become the blockbuster drug Lyrica, marketed by Pfizer for fibromyalgia, neuropathic pain, spinal cord injury pain and epilepsy.”
Silverman is a bioorganic and medicinal chemist with a special interest in the design of medicinal agents and mechanisms of drug action. He investigates the rational design, syntheses and molecular mechanisms of action of medicinal agents and the mechanisms of enzymes. Silverman’s interdisciplinary group is studying drugs that function as specific inhibitors or activators of particular enzymes, especially those involved in neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, epilepsies, lysosomal storage diseases, and cancers.
Silverman is the Patrick G. Ryan/Aon Professor of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences in Weinberg College and a member of the Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Center for Molecular Innovation and Drug Discovery, and Center for Developmental Therapeutics.
Original article written by Megan Fellman and published on Northwestern Now.