Bill Denny inducted into Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame
29 August 2016
Distinguished Professor Bill Denny has been inducted into the American Chemical Society Division of Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame at an August 23 ceremony in Philadelphia.
Professor Denny received his PhD (organic synthesis) and DSc (drug design) degrees from the University of Auckland.
He then undertook post-doctoral training at Oxford University in the Dyson Perrins Laboratory, working under the direction of Professor Sir Ewart Jones.
Professor Denny returned to New Zealand and joined the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre (ACSRC) as a Senior Research Fellow, working on development of the topo II inhibitor amsacrine, which was FDA-approved in 1984 in a collaboration with Parke-Davis.
His interests include all aspects of the design and evaluation of small-molecule drugs and he has been involved in the development of 13 drugs to clinical trial.
He is a past-President of the NZ Institute of Chemistry and the NZ Society for Oncology, and was appointed an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit in 2003.
Professor Denny has received numerous awards, including the 1995 Royal Society of New Zealand Rutherford Medal, the 2005 Adrien Albert Medal from the UK Royal Society of Chemistry and the 2014 Medicinal Chemistry award of the American Chemical Society.
