Dennis C. Liotta
Encyclopedia
Dennis Liotta is a Chemistry
professor at Emory University
in Atlanta, Georgia
, United States
.
Liotta's fields of research are organic synthesis
and medicinal chemistry
. Along with Dr. Raymond F. Schinazi and Dr. Woo-Baeg Choi of Emory, he discovered Emtricitabine
which is a breakthrough HIV
drug; the drug was sold to Gilead Sciences
in July 2005 for $525 million and it is marketed under the name Emtriva. Currently Emtriva is part of drugs used by 94% of HIV-positive patients in the United States. Liotta and Schinazi are also co-inventors of the HIV drug lamivudine
.
Liotta obtained his PhD. degree at City University of New York
and carried out postdoctoral research at Ohio State University
after which he joined the Emory faculty in 1976. He was promoted to full professor in 1988 and currently holds the Samuel Candler Dobbs professorship at Emory. He is also the director of the Emory Institute for Drug Discovery. Earlier he has served as the chair of the chemistry department and Emory's vice-president for research. Liotta has published over 200 research publications and holds over 50 US patents. Currently he is also the Editor-In-Chief of the ACS journal Medicinal Chemistry Letters.
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
professor at Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Liotta's fields of research are organic synthesis
Organic synthesis
Organic synthesis is a special branch of chemical synthesis and is concerned with the construction of organic compounds via organic reactions. Organic molecules can often contain a higher level of complexity compared to purely inorganic compounds, so the synthesis of organic compounds has...
and medicinal chemistry
Medicinal chemistry
Medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry are disciplines at the intersection of chemistry, especially synthetic organic chemistry, and pharmacology and various other biological specialties, where it is involved with design, chemical synthesis and development for market of pharmaceutical...
. Along with Dr. Raymond F. Schinazi and Dr. Woo-Baeg Choi of Emory, he discovered Emtricitabine
Emtricitabine
Emtricitabine , with trade name Emtriva , is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor for the treatment of HIV infection in adults and children....
which is a breakthrough HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
drug; the drug was sold to Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes therapeutics. For many years since the company was founded, the company concentrated primarily on antiviral drugs to treat patients infected with HIV, hepatitis B or influenza. In 2006, Gilead acquired two...
in July 2005 for $525 million and it is marketed under the name Emtriva. Currently Emtriva is part of drugs used by 94% of HIV-positive patients in the United States. Liotta and Schinazi are also co-inventors of the HIV drug lamivudine
Lamivudine
Lamivudine is a potent nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor .It is marketed by GlaxoSmithKline with the brand names Zeffix, Heptovir, Epivir, and Epivir-HBV.Lamivudine has been used for treatment of chronic hepatitis B at a lower dose than for treatment of HIV...
.
Liotta obtained his PhD. degree at City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
and carried out postdoctoral research at Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
after which he joined the Emory faculty in 1976. He was promoted to full professor in 1988 and currently holds the Samuel Candler Dobbs professorship at Emory. He is also the director of the Emory Institute for Drug Discovery. Earlier he has served as the chair of the chemistry department and Emory's vice-president for research. Liotta has published over 200 research publications and holds over 50 US patents. Currently he is also the Editor-In-Chief of the ACS journal Medicinal Chemistry Letters.