Natural Products Synthesis
A wide range of structural diversity can be found in natural products. Due to this rich diversity, these compounds have been found to have many types of biological activity (anticancer, antiviral, antiparasitic, anti-inflammatory and neurite outgrowth (NGF) potentiator). The aim of my natural product research will be to develop synthetic methodologies into the total synthesis of the natural products like Ecteinascidin 743, (+) Piperazinomycin, Brasiliamide B and Verbenachalcone.
Once a small molecule or natural product shows activity against a biological target, optimization of the compounds biological effect is the next step in the drug discovery process. The aim of my research in drug discovery will be to explore the structure activity relationship (SAR) of small molecules to identify novel compounds targeting Cancer, Neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimers and the parasitic disease schistosomiasis.
New Synthetic Methodologies
My research in the areas of drug discovery and natural product synthesis will be driven by the development of new synthetic methodologies. This involves using the tools from the wealth of knowledge present in organometallic, heterocyclic, and asymmetric chemistry. These new methodologies will be used to develop novel scaffolds that can serve as templates toward the synthesis of natural products or biologically active small molecules.