NSAID Drug Design
Samuel Roter '25 conducts summer research on NSAIDs
Allentown, PA (12/08/2022) — Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a rapidly-growing neurodegenerative disease; as of 2017, 5.3 million United States citizens are afflicted with AD, which is estimated to increase to 13+ million individuals by 2050, costing the country over $1 trillion annually to care for those affected. This creates an extreme urgency for new treatments. Already, there are hundreds of drugs undergoing clinical trials, but they have had very little success with a failure rate of 99.4%. The overarching goal of this research is to make a drug that will reduce neuroinflammation, one of the many possible contributors of AD. I prepare the drugs for in vitro testing by conjugating non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drugs with shuttles containing various functional groups. We are currently in very early-stage drug development, so the hope is that eventually, we will be able to transition to the next stage and get one step closer to solving AD.
After completing Module I a year prior, I continued my exploration of the Michael Chekhov Technique in a week-long intensive at the Great Lakes Michael Chekhov Consortium (GLMCC). Module II took the tools learned in Module I and applied them to monologues. From dawn until dusk, we explored tools such as Psychological Gestures (PGs), Atmospheres, and the Imaginary Body. The training culminated in a final performance showing how we applied the tools to our monologues. I received my actor's certification after performing Elliot's monologue from "Completeness" by Itamar Moses using PGs (Pull, Open, Embrace), Qualities of Movement (Flowing), and The Three Sensations (Balancing, Falling). My goal is to complete Module III next year and begin pursuing my teacher's certification later in the future.
Media Attachments
taken by Lizard Foley '24
