Dr. Richard van Rijn - 2021

Dr. Richard van Rijn began studying opioid receptor neuropharmacology in 2007 as a post-doctoral scientist at the University of California San Francisco within the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center in the laboratory of Dr. Jennifer Whistler. There he initiated studies that investigated the role of delta opioid receptors in rodent models of alcohol use disorder, mood disorders and pain. He was the recipient of a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence grant from the NIAAA and in 2013 he secured a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology in the College of Pharmacy at Purdue University. He continued to study the neuropharmacology of G protein-coupled receptors with a focus on pre-clinical drug discovery for treatments of drug dependence and co-morbid neurological disorders, supported by funding from both NIAAA and NIDA as well as a NARSAD young investigator award. Part of his research has focused on the characterization of various natural occurring opioids with distinct pharmacological properties as tools and potential leads for treating alcohol use disorder and chronic pain. Dr. Van Rijn was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2019 and in the spring of 2020 he carried out a sabbatical in the group of Dr. Brian Shoichet to acquire skills in molecular modeling of GPCRs and running virtual docking screens.