Part of his motivation to become a scientist and to pursue research in Prof. Meyer’s lab is rooted in my desire to make health care more affordable, in general. The primary social impact of the work performed in Prof. Meyer’s group is ultimately intended to be the development of new catalysts that will reduce costs associated with drug development and manufacture. Another aim of his research is to develop catalysts that will result in better pharmaceuticals. The drug discovery process, in their opinion, is seriously flawed. Disease targets (often enzymes or receptors) are screened using a set of molecules of limited structural diversity. Better asymmetric catalysts promise to provide more structural diversity in screening sets. The ultimate outcome of this improvement will be pharmaceuticals that will be active at a lower dosage and more selective for the disease target, thus reducing the chances for serious side effects. His efforts, which are specifically directed at making cheaper and better pharmaceuticals, are likely to have a substantial positive impact on the treatment of disease among the economically disadvantaged. While his approach to addressing health disparities is rooted in his scientific efforts, he look forward to get insights from the interactions with other social science colleagues in COE on his scientific approach.
