Do you find that structure you see beautiful?
Do you know that it is responsible for extending the lives of millions of people? Do you know that it was discovered from nature?
I have spent my entire career working on the discovery of bioactive compounds from nature. This includes ongoing, NIH-funded projects that strive to discover drug leads in the anticancer and anti-infective research spaces. Much of that current work originates with fungal cultures from around the world, including close collaboration with Mycosynthetix, Inc.
Much of my formative training came from working with the discoverers of taxol (the compound you see) and camptothecin, compounds that are front line agents in the treatment of cancer. In addition to being inspired by those discoveries, I learned a great deal about prioritizing leads, building research teams, and pushing (translating) compounds into development.
I absolutely love talking about natural products drug discovery (or its closely related cousin in the agrochemical space). I have worked with diverse clients, ranging from biotechs who are seeking an outside opinion/fresh eyes on their research strategy, to major, multi-national corporations that need expertise on specific topics.