William Lubell
Professor
Université de Montréal
Talk Information
Disease-Focused Peptide Discovery
19 June 2025, 12:00pm - 12:30pm, in the Pacific Jewel Ballroom
L63 - AW – Semicarbazides as Amino Amide Surrogates in Peptide Mimicry for Treating Unmet Medical Conditions
Award Recipient
The Murray Goodman Award
The Murray Goodman Scientific Excellence & Mentorship Award was established in 2007 by an endowment from Zelda Goodman. The Goodman Award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated career-long research excellence in the field of peptide science. In addition, the selected individual should have been responsible for significant mentorship and training of students, post-doctoral fellows, and/or other co-workers. This award is presented at the biennial American Peptide Symposia.
Professor William D. Lubell is a Full Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Université de Montréal. He is renowned for his contributions to medicinal chemistry and peptide science, particularly through the development of innovative peptides and peptidomimetics that target and modulate biologically relevant receptors for drug discovery. In recognition of his career-long research excellence and mentorship, Professor Lubell has been selected to receive the 2025 Murray Goodman Scientific Excellence and Mentorship Award from the American Peptide Society.
Academic Background
Dr. Lubell earned his A.B. in Chemistry from Columbia University in 1984 and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1989, under the mentorship of Professor H. Rapoport. His doctoral research focused on the synthesis of alpha-amino carbonyl compounds, including the cyclosporine MeBmt amino acid. He conducted postdoctoral research with Professor R. Noyori at Nagoya University in Japan, further honing his expertise in organic synthesis.
Research Focus
Professor Lubell's research encompasses the solution-phase and solid-phase synthesis of heterocycles, amino acids, peptides, and peptide mimics. His work aims to develop new methodologies for effectively synthesizing these novel structures for drug discovery and to explore their use in understanding protein folding, molecular recognition, and bioorganic catalysis. His laboratory applies the strength of organic synthesis to explore the chemical biology of peptides through conformational restriction, innovating methods for amino acid, polyamide, and heterocycle synthesis.
Notable Contributions
Dr. Lubell has authored over 250 scientific publications and has been instrumental in developing intellectual property used to launch start-up companies. His collaborative efforts with biochemists, pharmacologists, and physicians have been critical in drug discovery teams developing interventions to treat Alzheimer's disease, premature birth, and age-related macular degeneration. He is also the originator of "Molecules of Life," an initiative aimed at enhancing public understanding of science through experiential education techniques.
Awards and Honors
Professor Lubell's achievements have been recognized with several prestigious awards, including:
- 2025: Murray Goodman Scientific Excellence and Mentorship Award, American Peptide Society
- 2018: Teva Canada Limited Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Lectureship Award, Canadian Society for Chemistry
- 2013: Bernard Belleau Award, Canadian Society for Chemistry
- 2002: Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research Award
Professional Engagements
Beyond his research, Dr. Lubell has served in various editorial roles, including as Associate Editor of Organic Letters, 2005–2018, and as an editorial board member for journals such as Biomedicines and Peptide Science. He has also been actively involved in organizing scientific conferences and symposia, contributing to the advancement of the peptide science community.
Through his innovative research, mentorship, and commitment to science education, Professor William D. Lubell continues to make significant contributions to the fields of chemistry and biomedical science.
Semicarbazides as Amino Amide Surrogates in Peptide Mimicry for Treating Unmet Medical Conditions
Département de Chimie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
Substitution of nitrogen for the central alpha-carbon of an amino acid in a peptide has pertinent consequences on the conformation and activity of the resulting azapeptide1. The semicarbazide analog exhibits enhanced amide Brønsted acidity and Lewis basicity, favoring hydrogen bonding2,3. Moreover, pyramidalization of the alpha-amine in the aza-amino amide introduces nitrogen chirality with potential for dynamic inversion4.
Presenting such phenomena in the context of translational research, this talk will feature various advances in studying different semicarbazide motifs in peptide leads toward azapeptide candidates with therapeutic potential. Azapeptide analogs have been studied in the context of recognition and disruption of amyloid proteins for agents aimed at early detection and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease2,3. In peptide ligands of the cluster of differentiation-36 receptor (CD36), semicarbazides have given high affinity and selectivity in azapeptide modulators of macrophage-driven inflammation with potential for treating diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and atherosclerosis4. Moreover, topological mimicry of peptide turn conformations using semicarbazide analogs has transformed peptide leads into peptide mimic modulators of the urotensin receptor, which mediates cardiovascular function5.
The utility of the semicarbazide motif in peptide science will be highlighted, with a focus on recent efforts in the synthesis and study of azapeptides.
1. Chingle R, Proulx C, Lubell W.D. Acc. Chem. Res. 2017, 50, 1541–1556.
2. Habashi M et al. J. Med. Chem. 2023, 66, 3058–3072.
3. Habashi M et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2022, 119(49), e2210766119.
4. Proulx C et al. Biomedicines 2020, 8(8), E241.
5. Wei X et al. J. Med. Chem. 2023, 66, 14241–14262.