Jose Juncosa

Education

Purdue University, PhD, Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, 2011

Areas of Expertise

Organic Chemistry
Medicinal Chemistry
Pharmacology

Bio

Although he was born in Florida, Dr. Juncosa attended elementary and high school in Caracas, Venezuela. He obtained his License in Chemistry (5-year degree) summa cum laude at Simon Bolivar University in Caracas, and returned to the United States for Graduate School. He obtained his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology from Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN) in 2011 under the mentorship of Dr. David E. Nichols, and immediately began his postdoctoral training at Northwestern University, in Dr. Richard Silverman's research group. In 2014, he was welcomed into the Faculty of Salisbury University as an Assistant Professor.

In addition to his scientific training, Dr. Juncosa also received a degree as a Performing Professor of Piano from the Ministry of Culture of Venezuela in 2005.

Research Interests

Dr. Juncosa's research centers on creating new molecules that mimic the body's own neurotransmitters to improve our understanding of their mechanisms of action. This new knowledge could lead to improved treatments for various neurological conditions like Parkinson's Disease (PD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and many others.

Currently, Dr. Juncosa's research has two main areas of interest: creating compounds that selectively activate the dopamine D5 receptors, and others that selectively activate the serotonin 5-HT2A receptors in the central nervous system.
Teaching Philosophy

Dr. Juncosa's teaching philosophy centers on making new content as accessible to students as possible. This involves many different strategies, including:

- Presenting material in many different ways and in various formats,
- Continuously relating new material to known concepts and experiences,
- Making sure that gaps in knowledge do not impede learning, and others.

In addition, Dr. Juncosa puts considerable effort in helping the students lean how to organize and access newly learned information through subconscious algorithms, rules, and other strategies, so that they can more easily figure our when and how to apply specific concepts in various situations.

Dr. Juncosa strongly strives to create a comfortable class environment where everyone feels included, so that students can focus on learning and helping each other instead of self-imposing barriers to learning like fear, feelings of inadequacy, and others.

Finally, Dr. Juncosa tries to instill within his students tenacity and self-accountability, which will hopefully have a positive impact in their future careers regardless of their relation to Chemistry.
Selected Publications

Juncosa, Jose I., Takaya, Kenji, Le, Hoang V., Moschitto, Matthew J., Mascarenhas, Romila, Liu, Dali, Dewey, Stephen L. and Silverman, Richard B. (2018) Design and Mechanism of (S)-3-Amino-4-(difluoromethylenyl)cyclopent-1-ene-1-carboxylic acid, a Highly Potent GABA Aminotransferase Inactivator for the Treatment of Addiction. vol. 140. no. 6. pp. 2151-2164. Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Web Address

Juncosa, Jose I., Groves, Andrew P., Xia, Guoyao and Silverman, Richard B. (2013) Probing the steric requirements of the γ-aminobutyric acid aminotransferase active site with fluorinated analogues of vigabatrin. vol. 21. no. 4. pp. 903-911. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry.
Web Address

Juncosa, Jose I., Lee, Hyunbeom and Silverman, Richard B. (2013) Two continuous coupled assays for ornithine-δ-aminotransferase. vol. 440. no. 2. pp. 145-149. Analytical Biochemistry.
Web Address

Juncosa, Jose I., Hansen, Martin, Bonner, Lisa A., Cueva, Juan P., Maglathlin, Rebecca, McCorvy, John D., Marona-Lewicka, Danuta, Lill, Markus A. and Nichols, David E. (2013) Extensive rigid analogue design maps the binding conformation of potent N-benzylphenethylamine 5-HT2A serotonin receptor agonist ligands. vol. 4. no. 1. pp. 96-109. ACS Chemical Neuroscience.
Web Address

Bonner, Lisa A., Laban, Uros, Chemel, Benjamin R., Juncosa, Jose I., Lill, Markus A., Watts, Val J. and Nichols, David E. (2011) Mapping the catechol binding site in dopamine D₁ receptors: synthesis and evaluation of two parallel series of bicyclic dopamine analogues. vol. 6. no. 6. pp. 1024-1040. ChemMedChem.
Web Address
Current Courses
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Professional Memberships
Grants and Sponsored Research
Presentations

Efficient and Versatile Synthesis of the Selective 5-HT2A Agonist (2S,6S)-2-(4-Bromo-2,5-dimethoxybenzyl)-6-(2-methoxyphenyl)piperidine

May, 30 2019

Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

New, versatile synthesis of a compound that can serve as a pharmacological tool for the study of learning and the action of psychedelics, possibly leading to new treatments.
Service Activities and Community Relations

Dr. Juncosa currently serves as an appointed member of the General Education Review Steering Committee, which is tasked with creating a new General Education Program for Salisbury University, to be considered by the Faculty for adoption.

He served as Chair of the Learning with Technology Committee of the Faculty Senate from January 2017 to June 2018. In this position, he oversaw the development and reporting of SU's new Online Course policies, as well as reviewing the implementation of the Quality Matters process within this context, among many other issues.

Dr. Juncosa also enjoys organizing and/or serving as chaperone in trips for research students to present their findings at regional and national conferences, including the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (Edmond, OK, April 2018), UMBC Undergraduate Research Symposium in the Chemical and Biological Sciences (October 2018), and others.
Press Releases
1. NSF Awards $265K to SU to Upgrade NMR Spectrometer
  Wednesday, September 12, 2018

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