Virtual Program
From 7:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.
Nature has a long track record of being a source of compounds that led to FDA-approved drugs. Fungi, in particular, may have had one of the biggest impacts on survival rates in the 20th century due to the discovery of penicillin and the antibiotics revolution that it stimulated. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find anyone in the world who has not been treated with an antibiotic at least once in their lifetimes. However, much of the work that led to modern antibiotics was carried out in the 1950s through 1980s. Have you ever wondered how someone goes about 'discovering' a drug lead from fungi in 2023? This talk will go into details about how fungi, collected from the environment, are used as a source for drug leads, particularly for the sake of anticancer drug discovery, by telling you how this is carried out in a project that is currently funded by the National Cancer Institute.
Watch the recording on YouTube.
Dr. Nicholas Oberlies is an internationally recognized expert in the chemistry of nature and medicines from natural products. Leads a team of scientists focused on the discovery of new drug leads. Skilled in the discovery, biological evaluation, structure elucidation, and optimization of natural product drug leads.
Consulted on the analysis of natural products (e.g., setting up drug discovery pipelines and determining safety of herbal remedies) for clients ranging from Fortune 500 corporations (e.g. Procter & Gamble) to biotechs. Served as a qualified expert witness. Trained chemistry students in communication skills and public speaking. Developed workshops on Scientific Entrepreneurship. Served on Scientific Advisory Boards for Mycosynthetix, Ionic Pharmaceuticals, Clue Genetics and several Journals (e.g., J. Antibiotics, Phytochemistry, Planta Medica). Over 100 invited scientific presentations, both nationally and internationally. Published >220 manuscripts.