Chemist David Y. Gin's interest in chemical synthesis can be traced back to the time he spent working in the kitchen of his family's restaurant in rural Canada.
Growing up in a town of about 900 people in British Columbia, Canada, I discovered in elementary school that I had an affinity for math and science. When I reached high school, under the tutelage of a very good chemistry instructor, I found myself gravitating toward the subject of chemistry.
Cooking/Chemistry Connection
For several years, I worked in my father's restaurant as a cook. This, I suppose, was my first real experience with mixing together different ingredients to create new products. I enjoyed the process and the sense of discovery and reward it offered.
In 1985, my transition to life as an undergraduate at the University of British Columbia was simultaneously challenging and exciting. Although it was a large school, the chemistry professors with whom I studied provided an unusual level of personal and interactive instruction. As a result, my interest in chemistry continued to grow.
During my second year, my interests grew in the direction of organic chemistry. I liked its simple logic, which was accompanied by significant room for creativity -- in ways that reminded me of cooking. By this, I mean that from a few, simple foundations, one has the power to master molecular architecture. To me, that was very empowering.
Building Molecules from Scratch -- An Addiction Is Born
At the time though, I was still very naïve. I did not know what a career in science would entail. I moved toward it simply because it was exciting and intellectually stimulating. In my second year, I started seeking out laboratory work. It was during this period that I spent quite a bit of time trying to make a specific molecule. When I had finally succeeded, what resonated most with me was that I was holding a new substance in my hands that, up until that moment, had never before existed. It was at this point that I was officially addicted, and with my new addiction, I began to think how nice it would be to be able to make a living doing this.
When I graduated in 1989, I was intent on getting my PhD. It was not very common in Canada at the time to move to the US for one's graduate work. But I had an older brother who was getting his PhD at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), so that path was not too foreign to me. After one visit to Caltech, I was convinced that it was a terrific place to study.
At Caltech, I worked in Andrew Myers' lab, where I focused on targeted organic synthesis. Myers was a young researcher with a tremendous amount of energy and focus, which I found very inspiring. We were building complex molecules for which there were no instructions. If these molecules were to be made, we would have to invent new chemical reactions to make them. It was a free-flowing environment, meaning there was no set path to achieve one's goals. It required an intense work ethic and creativity, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Therapeutic Potential
At the completion of my doctoral studies, I didn't know if I wanted to go into the pharmaceutical industry or to continue in academics by pursuing a postdoctoral position. With the encouragement of my PhD advisor, I chose the latter -- a decision I am pleased that I made. When it came to a postdoc position, I was fortunate enough to be accepted into Nobel laureate E.J. Corey's lab at Harvard University.
Working with Corey in 1994, I tunneled even deeper into the field of organic synthesis to further develop my "chemical intuition." We worked on the synthesis of an extremely complex class of molecules, again having to invent new chemistry along the way to its synthesis. The particular molecule we worked on happened to be an extremely potent anticancer agent. So, while it was a very challenging synthesis -- involving more than 40 steps -- it was also a compound of genuine therapeutic value, and currently it's in advanced clinical trials.
I finished my postdoc fellowship in 1996, at which time I began to interview for academic positions. I focused on US schools with top chemistry departments that had strong organic synthesis programs. After touring about ten schools, the clear choice for me was the University of Illinois, especially in light of their outstanding reputation for supporting young faculty.
Carbohydrates -- Providing a Beautiful Landscape
It was a wonderful time and place to be working in organic chemistry, especially given the importance of this area in terms of addressing critical questions in biology. While I had no formal training in the biological arena, I decided to focus on organic synthesis with an emphasis on molecular targets of therapeutic potential.
With this direction in mind, my work started with carbohydrate synthesis. It provided me with an expansive landscape to apply new chemical reactions being developed in my lab. And looking back, it was that early pursuit that ultimately led to my eventual transition here to the Sloan-Kettering Institute (SKI). Some of the carbohydrate natural products we were making were intimately connected, in terms of biological and therapeutic applications, to some of the work going on here at SKI
During my nearly ten years at Illinois, we constructed a fairly complex carbohydrate natural product that is now used as an immune response stimulator in anticancer vaccines. After we had finished the synthesis of this molecular adjuvant, we asked ourselves, "Does this mark the successful completion of this research project, or would this just be the beginning?" By then, we had developed the technology to not only synthesize the compound but also modify its structure to perhaps enhance its potency for novel vaccines. I began to ask myself where would be the best place for me to explore these questions and expand this aspect of my synthesis program.
Synthesis-Plus
There was probably a handful of places that would qualify, but SKI had specific interests in some of the molecules, namely our carbohydrate immunostimulants, which we were targeting for synthesis. In addition, SKI chemist Sam Danishefsky provided a wonderful example of what could be done in the field. Here was someone with a hardcore synthetic research program, who used that as a foundation to help develop anticancer vaccines. For me, it was inspiring to see that exploring the biological applications of chemistry at SKI did not mean that one's innovations at the forefront of organic synthesis had to suffer in any way.
So, in many ways, it was an easy decision, and I officially started my laboratory in SKI's Molecular Pharmacology and Chemistry Program in August of 2006.
In terms of my research goals, I would like to continue to push the limits of the forefront of chemical synthesis -- developing new reactions and strategies, and applying them to complex molecule synthesis. But SKI brings a new dimension, one that allows me to take these advances and bring them to a point where our molecules could also be made to be therapeutically viable. Molecular therapeutics need not be derived solely from small simple molecules, characteristic of most drugs. More complex molecules can also be of therapeutic utility, so long as they are sufficiently potent and selective in their action. Chemical access to many of these molecules still does not exist, and I see it as our job to break down the barriers set up by the current limitations in organic synthesis.
To me, it is an exciting time in our research program to converge our chemistry expertise with those who can help us realize the full extent of its biological potential. It is an incredible prospect, and I can't think of a better place than SKI for this melding of chemistry and biology to come to fruition.
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