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Department of Chemistry

Columbian College of Arts & Sciences

Holden Thorp

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Holden Thorp

Professor of Chemistry

Contact:

Email: Holden Thorp
Office Phone: (202) 994-6121
800 22nd St. NW Washington DC 20052

Editor-in-Chief of Science magazine and on leave from full-time faculty duties, but I teach a Dean’s Seminar on science policy in the fall.  My research interests are in drug development and bioinorganic chemistry.  I started a company called Viamet Pharmaceuticals that developed VIVJOA, which is currently on the market for chronic yeast infections.  If you want to talk about Science magazine, science policy, or drug development, send me an email, and let’s get together.

Holden Thorp is a Fellow of  the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Inventors and, the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Thorp holds an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from North Carolina Wesleyan College and was a Washington University Provost 2013-2019.  We are proud to say that he was also our 2021 GW Department of Chemistry Caress Award recipient.

Editor-in-Chief of the Science family of journals, AAAS.

Thorp is the coauthor, with Buck Goldstein, of two books on higher education: Engines of Innovation: The Entrepreneurial University in the Twenty-First Century and Our Higher Calling: Rebuilding the Partnership Between America and its Colleges and Universities, both from UNC Press.

Modification of Metal Oxides with Nucleic Acids:  Detection of Attomole Quantities of Immobilized DNA by Electrocatalysis.  P. M. Armistead, H. H. Thorp* Anal. Chem. 2000, 72, 3764-3770.

Probing Biomolecule Recognition with Electron Transfer:  Electrochemical Sensors for DNA Hybridization.  M. E. Napier, C. R. Loomis, M. F. Sistare, J. Kim, A. E. Eckhardt, H. H. Thorp* Bioconjugate Chem. 1997, 8, 906-913.

Electrochemical Measurement of the Solvent Accessibility of Nucleobases Using Electron Transfer Between DNA and Metal Complexes.  D. H. Johnston, K. C. Glasgow, H. H. Thorp J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1995, 117, 8933 – 8937

Bond Valence Sum Analysis of Metal-Ligand Bond Lengths in Metalloenzymes and Model Complexes.  2.  Refined Distances and Other Enzymes.  W. Liu, H. H. Thorp Inorg. Chem. 1993, 32, 4102 - 4105.

Binding and Kinetics Studies of DNA Oxidation by Oxoruthenium(IV).  G. A. Neyhart, N. Grover, S. R. Smith, W. A. Kalsbeck, T. A. Fairley, M. Cory, H. H. Thorp J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1993, 115, 4423 – 4428.

Synthesis and Properties of New DNA Cleavage Agents Based on Oxoruthenium(IV).  N. Gupta, N. Grover, G. A. Neyhart, P. Singh, and H. H. Thorp Inorg. Chem. 1993, 32, 310 - 316.

Bond Valence Sum Analysis of Metal-Ligand Bond Lengths in Metalloenzymes and Model Complexes.  H. H. Thorp Inorg. Chem. 1992, 31, 1585 - 1588.

 

 

In his research career, Thorp studied electron-transfer reactions of nucleic acids, developed technology for electronic DNA chips, and cofounded Viamet Pharmaceuticals, which developed VIVJOA (oteseconazole), now approved by the FDA and marketed by Mycovia Pharmaceuticals. Thorp is a venture partner at Hatteras Venture Partners, a consultant to Ancora, and is on the board of directors of PBS, the College Advising Corps, and Artizan Biosciences.

Dean's Seminar on science policy which is taught in the fall.

 

Postdoctoral work at Yale University with Gary W. Brudvig, working on model compounds and reactions for the manganese cluster in the photosynthetic reaction center.

Ph.D., Chemistry, California Institute of Technology working with Harry B. Gray on inorganic photochemistry, 1989
B.S., Chemistry, University of North Carolina 1986

 

Holden Thorp (Chemistry) was named to the 2024 STATUS List, featuring 50 influential people shaping the future of health and life sciences.