Press Release:   January 18, 2010

A New Documentary Total Synthesis - From Chemistry to Medicine

Contact:   Matt McIntosh (mcintosh@uark.edu) - (479) 575-4692.   For more info:   www.totalsynthesis.net

Fayetteville, AR - In a year in which the nation may see the first comprehensive health care program enacted in our nation's history, prescription drugs and their costs are a major issue.   Yet most people have little idea where drugs come from and how they are made.   "Total Synthesis - From Chemistry to Medicine " reveals one of the major pathways by which new drugs are discovered.  The film takes the viewer into the organic chemistry laboratory of Prof. Matt McIntosh at the University of Arkansas, where he and his research team struggle to synthesize chemical compounds with potential to treat leukemia and other diseases.  

About the filmmakers:  

Matt McIntosh is a professor of chemistry at the University of Arkansas.   He leads a team of graduate, undergraduate and post-doctoral researchers who are engaged in the synthesis of chemical compounds with potential to treat cancer and other diseases.

David Clay is a graduate student in the McIntosh research lab.

Kathy Gearhart is an R.N. at Regency Hospital in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Credits: