Chris Orvig
Chris Orvig
Professor (Associate Member, Pharmaceutical Sciences)
Medicinal Inorganic Chemistry: Medicinal inorganic chemistry. Synthesis, physical studies, solution chemistry and structural analysis of coordination compounds of biological or medical importance; coordination chemistry of the f-elements; bioinorganic chemistry of main group elements; in vivo biodistributions and toxicology; in vitro cell studies; radiopharmaceutical chemistry; vanadium complexes as therapeutic agents for diabetes.
Research/Teaching Interests
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
My basic teaching philosophy is to be enthusiastic about my subject, honest about potential confusions, and unambiguous in my explanations. I involve students in every lecture through a variety of mechanisms (call-and-response, intimate tutorials in which the students tell each other the answers using the chalkboard and I act as a facilitator, spot-the-trend checks, student papers/seminars, etc.). I try to make students feel that the lecture could not take place without them. I extensively use clear handouts so that the principles, not the details, are emphasized as being of importance. I de-emphasize memory work, and I stress the importance of integration of knowledge in the problem sets and exams (I tell the students this). Regurgitation is not part of my teaching philosophy.
RESEARCH PROGRAMME
Research projects in our labs study the roles of metal ions in the etiology, diagnosis, and therapy of disease. These projects encompass a variety of metal ions as well as numerous ligand systems and a wide panoply of techniques and collaborations. Synthesis of organic ligands and inorganic complexes as well as physical (potentiometric and spectrophotometric titrations, various spectroscopies, electrochemistry etc.) and biological studies (in cells, at UBC Bioservices and/or in collaboration) are undertaken in the research programme.
