Dr. Dennis Dougherty

Biography

Dennis Dougherty is the George Grant Hoag Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology. He earned his B.S. and M.S. from Bucknell University in 1974 and completed his Ph.D. at Princeton University in 1978. Dougherty started his academic career as an Assistant Professor at Caltech in 1979, progressing to Associate Professor in 1985 and then to Professor in 1989. He has held the title of Hoag Professor since 2002 and served as Executive Officer of Chemistry from 1994 to 1999. His research focuses on organic chemistry and chemical biology, particularly chemical-scale understandings of ion channels and neuroreceptors. His work is aimed at developing pharmaceuticals for diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, and he is interested in the interactions that enable biological recognition. His group utilizes a combination of methodologies including organic synthesis, molecular biology, and computer modeling to study complex molecular systems.

Research Interests