Marya Lieberman wins award for chemistry in the public interest

Marya Lieberman, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame, is being recognized for her work in drug safety. The Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society will present the Gustavus John Esselen Award for Chemistry in the Public Interest to Lieberman for her work in developing paper analytical devices (PADs), which identify abnormalities in over 60 pharmaceuticals.

Lieberman’s PADs identify falsified medicines without the need for added chemicals, solvents, expensive instruments, or electricity, which allows them to more easily be used in low- and middle-income countries, where the World Health Organization estimates that substandard and false drugs kill hundreds of thousands of children under the age of 5. Through Lieberman’s Distributed Pharmaceutical Analysis Lab, students have identified substandard antibiotics in use throughout Africa. And the Marion County Coroner’s Office in Indianapolis is testing a variation of the PAD, known as the idPAD, to help detect the use of illicit street drugs at overdose scenes.

The Esselen Award honors outstanding scientific achievement—including technical work—that contributes to public well-being and highlights the positive values of a chemistry profession. The award honors Gustavus John Esselen, a former chair of the Northeastern Section and founder of Esselen Research.

Lieberman will receive the award during a ceremony at Harvard University Faculty Club in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 10 at 8:00 p.m. She will give an award lecture, "Got Fakes? Paper Test Cards for Detection of Falsified Medicines," after the award presentation. The lecture will be free and open to the public.

More information about the award can be found at www.nesacs.org/award/gustavus-john-esselen-award.