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).

Van Alstine-Parris received the Frederick Bettelheim Research Award in 2014, providing a $1,200 grant for her research in natural sciences. She co-received a $310,934 NIH grant in 2017 with Brian Stockman to support undergraduate research in NMR spectroscopy, medicinal chemistry, and novel antitrichomonal drug development, active from June 2017 to May 2020. She contributed to the development and execution of a $2.49 million NSF grant awarded in 2023 to Principal Investigator Andrea Ward for the "Ensuring STEM Student Success Through an Integrative Support Program," spanning six years to aid low-income STEM undergraduates. Actively engaged in teaching excellence, she presented at Adelphi University's Teaching and Learning Conferences in 2021 and 2023, completed the Accessibility Challenge in 2024, serves on the Faculty Senate Teaching and Advisement Committee representing Chemistry, and co-leads workshops on active and collaborative learning. As a mentor for McDonell Summer Fellows, she guides undergraduate research, fostering contributions to medicinal chemistry and organic synthesis.