VCU news

Donald J. Abraham, Ph.D., who is internationally known for his groundbreaking work discovering and developing drugs that interact with hemoglobin, has been inducted into the American Chemical Society Division of Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame.

The award honors scientists for their outstanding achievements in and contributions to the science and profession and for their services to the American Chemical Society.

Abraham is the Alfred and Francis Burger Emeritus Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Biological Chemistry in the School of Pharmacy, and Emeritus Director of the Institute for Structural Biology and Drug Discovery. Abraham served as chair of the VCU Department of Medicinal Chemistry from 1988 to 2003.

His research has focused on efforts to develop targeted therapeutics in sickle cell anemia, cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and radiation oncology. His work has been supported by grants totaling more than $12.5 million from the National Institutes of Health and industry sources.

Abraham and his colleagues formed the Institute for Structural Biology and Drug Discovery in 1996, which is part of the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park. The institute facilitates new discoveries being transferred to the marketplace by bringing together scientists in structural biology and drug discovery.

In 2006, a VCU research team led by Abraham showed that 5-HMF, a pure compound developed by the team, has a high affinity for sickle cell hemoglobin and holds promise for the treatment of sickle cell disease.

In 2005, Abraham was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Parma, Italy, and he received the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Paul Dawson Amgen Biotechnology Award in 2002. In 1974, Abraham was honored with the Humboldt Award from the German Government, which supported him to study at the School of Pharmacy in Munich and the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany.

Abraham was named the American Chemical Society’s Industrial Innovator of the Year in 2001, was the Virginia Biotechnology Association’s Educator of the Year in 2000 and was named a Virginia Outstanding Scientist in 1999.

Abraham has authored more than 175 peer review publications and co-edited the 7th Edition of Berger’s Medicinal Chemistry – a go-to reference for those in the field of medicinal chemistry. He served as editor of the 6th edition of the reference text.