George Greco
ProfessorChemistry
George Greco was born and raised in New York City and attended Hunter College High School. He received his B.S. degree in chemistry from Duke University. During his years as an undergraduate, he was a research assistant in the labs of Michael Pirrung (Duke), David Schuster (NYU), and Mark Burk (Duke). He also spent a summer working in Bruce Maryanoff's lab at Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceuticals in Spring House, PA.
George received his Ph.D. from MIT in 2000, working in the lab of Richard R. Schrock, 2005 Nobel Laurete in Chemistry. His thesis research involved the design and synthesis of molybdenum and tungsten complexes capable of reducing dinitrogen.
After graduation, George moved across the river to Boston College where he was an NIH postdoctoral fellow in Marc Snapper's lab, where he studied hetero Diels-Alder reactions of cyclobutadiene.
George arrived at Goucher College as an Assistant Professor in 2002. He was granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor in 2008, and promoted to Professor in 2017.
George has taught most courses in the chemistry department, but general, organic, and inorganic chemistry are on his regular rotation. He teaches regularly in both the undergraduate and post-baccalaureate premedical program. The common theme in George's research is organic synthesis with a variety of applications. Research projects in George's lab have included: Pd-catalyzed cycloaddition reactions incorporating carbon dioxide, Ni catalyzed [4+4] cycloaddition reactions, synthesis of DNA ligase inhibitors (collaboration with Alan Tomkinson, University of New Mexico), and fluorescence of dihydropteridines. George's current research project involves the synthesis of modified RNA bases for incorporation into aptamers for drug delivery (collaboration with Bethany Powell Gray, Johns Hopkins University). George received a Year of Exploration grant from the Myra Berman Kurtz Fund for Faculty Research and Exploration of the Sciences in 2025 to support this work.
George has been chair of the Chemistry Department on three separte occasions, and has served on the college's Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenure committee, Budget and Planning Committee, and Academic Policies Committee. George was awareded the Caroline Doebler Bruckerl ’25 Award for outstanding teaching, excellent research, and extensive service in 2021.
George has a strong secondary interest in music. He has performed as a bassoonist with the Duke Symphony Orchestra, Duke Wind Symphony, MIT Symphony Orchestra, MIT Conert Band, and Goucher College Orchestra as well as numerous student groups at MIT and Harvard. He currently plays clarinet and bassoon in the Hunt Valley Wind Ensemble Other personal interests include maps, weather, hiking, and bike riding.
Research, Scholarship, Creative Work in Progress
Synthesis and Evaluation of Aptamers That Can Be Used as Drug Delivery Agents for Cancer Drugs
Chemotherapy drugs have very severe side effects because they are highly toxic compounds which kill normal cells as well as cancer cells. Making more progress in the fight against cancer involves developing drugs that selectively target cancer cells. One such strategy is to link cancer drugs to drug delivery agents - molecules that are capable of specifically binding to receptors on the surface of cancer cells. The most successful drug delivery agents to date have been antibodies, but aptamers are an emerging class of molecules that can carry out this task. Aptamers are relatively short DNA or RNA molecules that fold into specific shapes and bind to receptors. I am collaborating on this work with Bethany Powell Gray of the Pharmacology Department at the Johns Hopkins school of medicine who has previously identified aptamers that bind specifically to prostate cancer cells. As a synthetic chemist, I am working on synthesizing modified RNA bases that have an even higher potential to bind to cell surface receptors.
Publications
Howes, Timothy R. L.; Sallymr, Annahita; Brooks, Rhys; Greco, George E.; Jones, Darin E.; Matsumoto, Yoshihiro; Tomkinson, Alan E. “Structure-activity relationships among DNA ligase inhibitors: Characterization of a selective uncompetitive DNA ligase I inhibitor.” DNA Repair. 2017, 60, 29-39.
Greco, G.E.; Conrad, Z.A.; Johnston, A.M.; Li, Q.; Tomkinson, A.E. “Synthesis and structure determination of SCR7, a DNA ligase inhibitor.” Tetrahedron Lett. 2016, 57, 3204-3207.
Greco, G. E.; Matsumoto, Y.; Brooks, R. C.; Lu, Z.; Lieber, M. R.; Tomkinson, A. E. “SCR7 is Neither a Selective nor a Potent Inhibitor of Human DNA Ligase IV.” DNA Repair. 2016, 43, 18-23.
Greco, G.E. “Chemical Information Literacy at a Liberal Arts College.” Chem. Educ. 2016, 93, 429−433.
Mbagu, M.K.; Kebulu, D.N.; Winstead, A.; Pramanik, S.K.; Banerjee, H.N.; Iwunze, M.O.; Wachira, J.M.; Greco, G.E.; Haynes, G.K.; Sehmer, A.; Sarkar,F.H.; Ho, D.M.; Pike, R.D.; Mandal, S.K. “Fac-tricarbonyl(pentylcarbonato)(α-diimine)rhenium complexes: One-pot synthesis, characterization, fluorescence studies, and cytotoxic activity against human MDA-MB-231 breast, CCl-227 colon and BxPC-3 pancreatic carcinoma cell lines.” Inorg. Chem. Commun. 2012, 21, 35-38.
Tobin, L.A.; Robert, C.; Nagaria, P.; Chumsri, S.; Twaddell, W.; Ioffe, O.B.; Greco, G.E.; Brodie, A.H.; Tomkinson, A.E.; Rassool, F.V. "Targeting Abnormal DNA Repair in Therapy-Resistant Breast Cancers" Molecular Cancer Research 2012, 10, 96-107.
Mbagu, M.K.; Kebulu, D.N.; Winstead, A.; Pramanik, S.K.; Banerjee, H.N.; Iwunze, M.O.; Wachira, J.M.; Greco, G.E.; Haynes, G.K.; Sehmer, A.; Sarkar,F.H.; Ho, D.M.; Pike, R.D.; Mandal, S.K. "Fac-tricarbonyl(pentylcarbonato)(α-diimine)rhenium complexes: One-pot synthesis, characterization, fluorescence studies, and cytotoxic activity against human MDA-MB-231 breast, CCl-227 colon and BxPC-3 pancreatic carcinoma cell lines." . Inorg. Chem. Commun. 2012, 21, 35-38.
Orsa, D.K.; Haynes, G.K.; Pramanik, S.K.; Iwunze, M.O.; Greco, G.E.; Ho, D.M.; Krause, J.A.; Hill, D.A.; Williams, R.J.; Mandal, S.K. "The one-pot synthesis and the fluorescence and cytotoxicity studies of chlorotricarbonyl(a-diimine)rhenium(I), fac-(CO)3(a-diimine)ReCl, complexes. Inorg. Chem. Commun. 2008, 11, 1054-1056.
Greco, G.E. “Nobel Chemistry in the Undergraduate Laboratory: Synthesis of a Ruthenium Catalyst for Ring-Closing Olefin Metathesis,” J. Chem. Educ, 2007, 84, 1995-1997 .
Greco, G.E.; Gleason, B.L.; Lowery, T.A.; Kier, M.J.; Hollander, L.B.; Gibbs, S.A.; Worthy, A.D, “Palladium-Catalyzed [3+2] Cycloaddition of Carbon Dioxide and Trimethylenemethane under Mild Conditions,” Org. Lett, 2007 9, 3817-3820.
External Awards, Honors, Grants
American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund Type GB research grant, $35,000. Project Title: “Transition metal-catalyzed [3+2] cycloaddition reactions incorporating carbon dioxide under mild conditions,” September 2005 to August 2009.
Sabbatical Appointment: Visiting Instructor, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Maryland School of Medicine. September 2009 to August 2010.
Conference Papers & Panel Participation
Greco, G.E. “Synthesis, Evaluation, and Fluorescence Properties of Small Molecule DNA Ligase Inhibitors.” 252nd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Philadelphia, PA, August 21-25 2016.
Invited Oral Presentation as part of “Small Splashes, Big Waves” symposium.
Greco, G.E.; Conrad, Z.A.; Johnston, A.M.; Li, Q.; Timothy, E.L. “Reaction of diaminopyrimidines with aldehydes: A new mode of reactivity and a highly fluorescent product.” 250th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Boston, MA, August 16-20 2015.
Greco, G.E. “Flipped classroom in undergraduate and post-baccalaureate premedical organic chemistry classes at Goucher College.” 250th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Boston, MA, August 16-20 2015.
Greco, G.E. “Flipped Classroom in Organic Chemistry 1.” 3rd Annual Blended Learning in the Liberal Arts Conference, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr PA, May 21, 2014.
Greco, G.E.; Chen, X.; Tobin, L.A.; Lapidus, R.A.; Sadowska, M.; Yang, A.J.; Nemieboka, N.N.; MacKerrell, A.D.; Zhong, S.; Rassool, F.V.; Tomkinson, A.E. "Rational design and evaluation of small molecule DNA ligase inhibitors as potential cancer chemotherapeutics." 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Boston, MA, August 22-26 2010. Poster Presentation
Greco, G.E.; Dropkin, J.E.; Crasto, C.L.; Kier, M.J.; Pagonakis, A., "Synthesis of Nitrogen Heterocycles through Ni-Catalyzed [4+4] Cycloadditions," Poster Presentation, 41st National Organic Chemistry Symposium, Boulder, CO, June 7-11 2009.
Greco, G.E.; Gleason, B.L.; Lowery, T.A.; Kier, M.J.; Hollander, L.B.; Worthy, A.D.; Gibbs, S.A., “Palladium-catalyzed [3+2] cycloaddition of carbon dioxide and trimethylenemethane under mild conditions,” Oral Presentation, 234th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Boston, MA, August 19-23, 2007.
Invited Talks
“Synthesis and Evaluation of Aptamers That Can Be Used as Drug Delivery Agents for Cancer Drugs”
2025 KRES Award Symposium, Goucher College, September 24, 2025
Scholarship Talk, Goucher College, November 13, 2025
“Synthesis, Evaluation, and Fluorescence Properties of Small Molecule DNA Ligase Inhibitors”
Johns Hopkins University Pharmacology Department, January 16, 2024
“How can a chemist help cure cancer?”
Post-Sabbatical Presentation, Goucher College, October 27, 2010
Hoffberger Science Conversation, Goucher College, March 2011
Loyola University Maryland, January 27, 2012
“Pd-Catalyzed [3+2] Cycloaddition Reactions Incorporating Carbon Dioxide”
Boston College Organic Seminar, July 5, 2006
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, July 8, 2006