Two talks were made available to the Permian Basin Local Section members during February. The first talk “Merck Research Laboratories in South San Francisco-Discovery Chemistry at Merck in the Bay Area” was given by Dr. Jillian R. Sanzone on February 13, 2021. Dr. H. N. Cheng presented the second talk “New Frontiers and Opportunities in Chemistry” on February 25, 2021. Both talks were via Zoom.
Dr. Jillian R. Sanzone
The California Local Section Woman Chemists Committee extended an invitation to the Permian Basin Section members to attend their February talk “Merck Research Laboratories in South San Francisco-Discovery Chemistry at Merck in the Bay Area”. During the time allotted preceding the talk, attendees had an opportunity to participate in two breakout sessions for chatting/networking. The talk concluded with a robust Q&A with the speaker.
Dr. Sanzone works in the Discovery Chemistry group at Merck Research Laboratories in South San Francisco, CA. Her current work includes inventing new small molecule drugs for the treatment of metabolic diseases and designing novel synthetic methods to enable medicinal chemistry programs at Merck. She highlighted the new Merck Research Laboratories site in South San Francisco, CA. The Merck discovery hub in South San Francisco was established in 2017 and has grown to over 200 employees in the newly designed research and office space. The site focuses on developing treatments for cardiometabolic diseases and oncology. The Discovery Chemistry group enables these goals by leveraging the strong chemistry and scientific expertise at Merck to focus on discovering better molecules faster across modalities and advancing the best molecules into the pipeline to deliver to patients.
Dr. H. N. Cheng
The South Plains Local Section organized the talk, “New Frontiers and Opportunities in Chemistry”, with the support from the Central New Mexico, Panhandle Plains, Permian Basin, and Rio Grande Valley Local Sections. The talk concluded with a very extensive and engaged discussion period.
Dr. Cheng is the 2021 President of the American Chemical Society and currently works at USDA Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans. Over the years, he has been involved with the use of agro-based materials, biocatalysis, green processing, and green methodology and has also contributed to polymer reactions, polymerization theory and polymer NMR. During the talk, he used several recent developments to build a picture of new frontiers and opportunities in chemistry – a field that cuts across interdisciplinary boundaries and traditional dimensions. Dr. Cheng stated that the solution of the grand challenges of today (e.g., medicine, food, energy, environment, climate change, clean air and water, and population growth) needs the skills and the participation of chemists and chemical engineers. Emerging areas like sustainability and green chemistry will provide even more opportunities. Moreover, entrepreneurship and academic-industrial-government collaborations will be helpful in stimulating innovation. These developments fit well with the theme of “Growth, Collaboration, and Advocacy”, which is his focus for his presidential year.