Pharmaceutical Chemistry in Taiwan
Dean Tantillo
Chemistry
Professor Dean Tantillo has been part of the Quarter Abroad Taipei program since its inception, having visited Taiwan many times over the past decade. He will be teaching the rational drug design course (CHE 130C), which makes use of modern computational molecular modeling techniques. When not in the computer lab, he can usually be found eating dumplings.
Jacquelyn Gervay-Hague
Chemistry
Professor Jacquelyn Gervay-Hague first visited Taiwan in 2006 and fell in love with the country and its people immediately. She was fortunate to be able to work with a team of professors from UC Davis and Academia Sinica to develop the course plan that is now offered through UC Davis QA. Jackie has taught both CHE 130A and CHE 150 and she is especially involved in administering CHE 199 research opportunities for QA students. She and her research team also conduct field studies on the tea plantations of Taiwan searching for compounds that boost the human immune system. Jackie can often be spotted in the tea houses of Taipei and surrounding areas.
Neil Schore
Chemistry
Professor Neil Schore is a strong proponent of programs that enable students to explore life outside the U.S. in the context of their college career. He teaches the bioorganic chemistry laboratory course in Taiwan, in which students synthesize, purify, and characterize a compound to serve as a “drug candidate.” They then test it for toxicity, an exercise that parallels activities in the pharmaceutical industry up through "Phase I" trials. Other popular exercises include excursions to museums, historical sights, the occasional Taiwan-league baseball game, weather permitting (which is almost never), and the most famous ice cream shop in Asia.