Sherri C Young
Education
- Ph.D., chemistry, Lehigh University
- B.S., chemistry, Albright College
- Master’s, Organizational Leadership, Muhlenberg College
Teaching Interests
Ever since I took organic chemistry as a sophomore in college, I have been passionate about the impact of molecular structure and properties on reactivity and function. I teach organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and polymers because of their broader impact on so many aspects of our everyday lives (plastics, drugs, pesticides, fragrances, flavorings, vaccines, you name it). In all of my courses, I continually emphasize to students the big picture and relevance of the chemistry we are studying, and I integrate my knowledge of drug discovery and organic synthesis into all of my courses to spark student interest.
In addition to teaching organic and medicinal chemistry, I teach courses about the pharmaceutical industry. In these courses, we analyze the nuanced challenges facing the industry from an interdisciplinary lens.
Research and Scholarship
I became a medicinal chemist because the balancing act of developing a drug excites me. I am passionate about central nervous system (CNS) drug development in particular because of the dire shortage of viable CNS drugs, particularly drugs that treat Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Drugs intended to treat CNS disorders such as AD often suffer from poor clinical efficacy because of low brain exposure levels, which can be due, in part, to low blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability and high plasma-protein binding. My current research focuses on improving the brain exposure levels of known drugs by linking them to high-permeability shuttles. Students use column chromatography for purification and thin layer chromatography, spectroscopy, high-performance liquid chromatography, and mass spectrometry for product characterization. Finally, a variety of biological assays are used to assess the CNS potential of these molecules.
Through this work, we hope to contribute to the arsenal of effective CNS drugs.
- Chemistry Independent Study/Research - Bioorganic & Medicinal
- Chemistry Independent Study/Research - NSAID Derivatives Study
- Chemistry Independent Study/Research - NSAID Synthesis
- Chemistry Independent Study/Research - Young Research Lab
- Chemistry Independent Study/Research: Eval of NSAID Conjugates
- Chemistry Independent Study/Research: In Vitro Analysis
- Chemistry Internship - Muhlenberg College
- CUE: Chemistry Capstone Seminar
- Dana Scholars Directed Studies - NSAID Derivatives Study
- FYS: Pharma: Changes and Ethical Challenges
- MUHLES Research Apprenticeship
- Organic Chemistry II
- Organic Chemistry II: Research in Organic Chemistry
- Organic Chemistry Laboratory
- Robert C. Williams Faculty Award, 2018
Publications:
- Young, SC. Incorporating Inter-Lab Collaborations into the Organic Chemistry Teaching Laboratories, 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. (This article was an invited submission as part of the 25th Anniversary of the Amyloid Hypothesis and Alzheimer’s Disease Special Issue.)
Presentations: - Roter, SF*; Gatazka, M*; Soussan, A*; Gagnon, A*; Shelley, M*; Oko, E*; Brach, T*; Haddad, A-M*; De Jesus, M*; Young, SC. Design, Synthesis, and In Vitro Assessment of Non-steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID) Conjugates for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). In Abstracts of Papers, 269th American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition, March 23-27; American Chemical Society: San Diego, CA, 2025.
- Roter, S*; Young, SC. Synthesis and In Vitro Testing of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID)-Shuttle Conjugates for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Intercollegiate Student Chemists Convention, Allentown, PA, March 29, 2025.
- Young, SC. Implementation and Assessment of Mentoring Circles: A Group Peer-Mentoring Approach. Professional and Organizational Development Network 49th Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, November 10-14, 2024.
- Young, S; Trump, M*; Shelley, M*; Gatazka, MR*; Brach, A*; Haddad, A-M*; Albdewi, M. Predicted blood-brain barrier permeabilities for carbonate and carbamate-containing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug conjugates. In Abstracts of Papers, 265th American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition, Indianapolis, IN, United States, March 26-30, 2023.
- Young, SC. Synthesis and In Vitro Evaluation of Amide-, Carbonate-, and Carbamate-Based Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drug Conjugates for Potential CNS Delivery. 6th Binghamton University Research Conference in Chemistry, Binghamton, NY, November 11, 2023.
- Shelley, M*; Trump, M*; Brach, A*; Haddad, A*; Albdewi, M*; Young, SC. Developing Brain-Bioavailable Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug Derivatives for CNS Applications. 6th Binghamton University Conference in Undergraduate and Graduate Research in Chemistry, Binghamton, NY, November 11, 2023.
- 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.
*Please note that this list is not exhaustive.