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Kathlyn A. Parker, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry.
Funding through the National Institutes of Health NIGMS and NCI.
The total synthesis of novel medicinal leads has many benefits. These
days, total synthesis can be efficient enough to provide really useful
amounts of relatively complex drug candidates. Furthermore, the synthetic
methods and strategies developed for the total synthesis can be used to
prepare related compounds, an exercise that is particularly rewarding
if it leads to the discovery of a simple, synthetically accessible pharmacophore.
Research in the Parker lab is focused on the preparation of natural products
that have unusual structural features and interesting biological activity.
Reaction development is important as is rational design of synthetic schemes.
Current targets include the important anticancer drug candidate (+)-discodermolide,
available only in minute quantitites from a Caribbean sponge, and SNF
4435C and D, newly discovered compounds produced by a Streptomyces, that
exhibit both immunosuppressant and multidrug resistance reversal activity.
For the student, total synthesis provides an opportunity to discover
a multitude of reactions and experimental procedures. Consequently, a
student who plans to follow a career in the pharmaceutical industry or
one who aspires to a faculty position in a research university or a college
would find experience in synthesis to be a strong foundation for further
study.
Contact Information
email: Kathlyn.Parker@sunysb.edu
url: http://www.stonybrook.edu/chemistry/faculty/kparker.htm
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