Dr Dmitrii Kalinin habilitated in Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry
On Wednesday, June 25, 2025, Dr. Dmitrii Kalinin successfully completed the final requirement of the habilitation process at the University of Münster by presenting his habilitation colloquium on the topic “The Development of Small Molecule Drugs for COVID-19 Treatment.” Following the colloquium, the Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Prof. Dagmar Klostermeier, awarded him the venia legendi (authorization to teach) in the field of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry.
Dr. Kalinin’s research focuses on the development of novel agents for the inhibition of blood coagulation. In this context, he has developed innovative inhibitors of activated coagulation factor XIIa, a key component of the intrinsic coagulation pathway. His work has carefully elucidated the relationships between molecular structure and the inhibition of factor XIIa, as well as the impact on both the intrinsic and extrinsic coagulation pathways (structure–activity relationships). He complements his experimental work with computer-aided drug design (molecular modeling) studies. To efficiently generate a large number of test compounds, he developed a "microscale parallel synthesis" method, which he has applied with great success to various research questions. Using mass spectrometric analyses, he demonstrated that the developed 1-acyltriazole inhibitors act on factor XIIa via a covalent-reversible mechanism. Currently, cryo-EM studies with factors XIa and XIIa are underway, aiming to further improve the rational design of new inhibitors in the future. In addition to inhibitors targeting the coagulation cascade, more recent projects focus on inhibitors of plasma kallikrein and the P2X1 receptor.
In recognition of his outstanding and forward-looking research in the field of anticoagulant drug development, Dr. Dmitrii Kalinin was awarded the Innovation Prize for Medicinal/Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the “Frontiers in Medicinal Chemistry” conference in Erlangen in April 2025. The prize, which includes a €5,000 award, is presented annually by the German Chemical Society (GDCh) and the German Pharmaceutical Society (DPhG).