Dr. Andy Lampkins recently received a Cottrell College Science Award, which is a two-year $42,220 research grant from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, for his work in the fields of drug discovery and synthetic organic chemistry. 

The research this grant will fund involves the design and synthesis of novel drug therapies to combat Alzheimer's disease. With no current cure, this debilitating disease is becoming increasingly prevalent, and is already among the most expensive burdens the United States health care system must bear. Dr. Lampkins and his research team (including Samford University students, faculty, and additional collaborators outside of SU) have developed amino acid-based lactone scaffolds specifically designed to penetrate the central nervous system and thwart a key enzyme involved in the neurotoxic amyloid cascade leading to Alzheimer's disease.