AIDSfreeAFRICA

"Chemists Respond to the Challenge of AIDS"

NOV 9, 7:00 to 9:00 PM Drew Univ. NJ

Dr. Rolande R. Hodel

"Challenges Designing and Implementing an Emerging Pharmaceutical Infrastructure in Africa"

AIDSfreeAFRICA, is a group of professional volunteers responding to the challenge, enabling Africans to meet their health needs. AIDS has dramatically shortened the life span throughout Africa. Proud natives claim they are not dying from AIDS, but rather the many complications of their impaired immune system. Primitive health care systems and limited financial resources prevent many modern drugs and treatments systems from being utilized.

With limited resources AIDSfreeAFRICA, a non profit volunteer organization, has considerable accomplishments enabling local companies in Cameroon to actively participate in the delivery of needed materials. Now activities are expanding to neighboring countries as new solutions are being researched that can be implemented in country with local talent.

"Using basic scientific approaches to discover agents targeting

drug-resistant HIV"

Professor Eddy Arnold

Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers University

Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Studies of reverse transcriptase (RT), an essential component of the AIDS virus and the target of many of the most widely used anti-AIDS drugs will be presented. Using the techniques of X-ray crystallography, Dr. Arnold's team has solved the three-dimensional structures of HIV-1 RT in complex with antiviral drugs and pieces of the HIV genome. These studies have illuminated the working of an intricate and fascinating biological machine in atom-by-atom detail and have yielded numerous novel insights into polymerase structure-function relationships, detailed mechanisms of drug resistance, and structure-based design of RT inhibitors. Synthesis of the information being developed has lead to the development of inhibitors that show great promise as potential treatments for AIDS.

Directions and more details can be found at the web site www.njacs.org or by contacting NJACS Meetings and Arrangements Chair at billsuits@earthlink.net or 908-875-9069

_________________________________________________________________________

Dr. Rolande Hodel receives Humanitarian Award:

Dr. Rolande Hodel received the Astellas USA Foundation award for 2009.

This award carries a $30,000 prize in addition to the awards

presentation and symposium at the August 16, 2009 ACS National Meeting

in Washington, DC. For follow up see www.acs.org