Adjunct Associate professor Richard M. van Rijn, Ph.d. (pronounce like 'brine' without the B)
I obtained my undergraduate degree in Bio-pharmaceutical Sciences from Leiden University. During the “Masters” portion of this degree I worked one year in a Pharmacognosy lab, isolating acetylcholineesterase inhibitors from Amaryllidaceae bulbs as well as six months in a virology lab. I graduated from VU University Amsterdam in the Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences with a research thesis focused on the molecular pharmacology of histamine H4 receptors and their ability to engage in oligomeric protein-protein interactions. The research was performed in the group of Professor Rob Leurs. After working for six months as research associate producing adenovirus constructs at Biofocus DPI, a Galapagos company, I started my post-doctoral training at the University of California San Francisco at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center in 2007. In the laboratory of Dr. Jennifer Whistler I started working on the role of delta opioid receptors in alcohol abuse in rodents. I was awarded with an ABMRF grant as well as a K99/R00 through NIAAA. In 2013 I secured a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology in the College of Pharmacy at Purdue University and continue to study the neuropharmacology of GPCRs with a focus on pre-clinical drug discovery for treatments of drug dependence and co-morbid neurological disorders. The lab has received funding from NIAAA and NIDA as well as a NARSAD young investigator award. I was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure on August 12th 2019. During the Spring of 2020 I did a sabbatical in the group of Dr. Brian Shoichet to acquire skills in molecular modeling of GPCRs and running docking/virtual screens. In 2020, I also consulted for Carmot Therapeutics. Outside the lab, I love to cook, travel, take photographs (http://www.flickr.com/photos/redrijn/) and listen to music (classical, prog. rock, indie rock, electronic ambient, trip-hop)