Rate My Professor Melissa VanAlstine-Parris

Melissa A. Van Alstine-Parris serves as Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences at Adelphi University. She earned a BS in Chemistry in 2003 and a PhD in Organic/Medicinal Chemistry in 2007 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Her research specialization in medicinal chemistry encompasses the synthesis of high-affinity ligands for opioid receptors, studies on cytochrome P450 epoxygenase signaling in brain analgesic circuits, and mechanistic investigations of organic reactions including the Pechmann condensation for coumarin synthesis. Key publications include "Syntheses of novel high affinity ligands for opioid receptors" (Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 2009), "Opioids activate brain analgesic circuits through cytochrome P450/epoxygenase signaling" (Nature Neuroscience, 2010), "Insight into the mechanism of the Pechmann condensation reaction using NMR" (Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2015), and "Synthesis of 7-alkoxy-4-trifluoromethylcoumarins via the von Pechmann reaction catalyzed by molecular iodine" (Tetrahedron Letters, 2014).