Directory
Douglas Kinghorn headshot

A. Douglas Kinghorn, PhD, DSc

Distinguished University Professor

Jack L. Beal Chair

Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy
Research Areas: Cancer, Natural Products, Division of Medicinal Chemistry & Pharmacognosy

446 Parks Hall

kinghorn.4@osu.edu
(614) 247-8094
 Professional Website

Professional Interests

The research interests of Dr. Kinghorn are on the isolation, characterization and biological evaluation of natural products of higher plant origin, and he has worked in particular on compounds with potential antimicrobial, cancer chemotherapeutic, cancer chemopreventive, sweet-tasting, and bitterness-blocking effects, in addition to the scientific study of botanical dietary supplements.

Biography

Dr. A. Douglas Kinghorn was appointed in 2004 as Professor and Jack L. Beal Chair at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy. From 1977-2004, he served on the faculty of the College of Pharmacy of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where he was promoted to full Professor in 1986. While in Chicago, he was designated as the B. Kenneth West Senior University Scholar (1993-1996), and received the 2002-2003 UIC Award for Excellence in Teaching. He received his Ph.D. (1975) and D.Sc. (1990) degrees from The School of Pharmacy, University of London (now the School of Pharmacy, University College London), and an honorary D.Sc. degree (2011) from the University of Bradford in the U.K.. Dr. Kinghorn is a former President of both the American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP; 1990-1991) and the Society for Economic Botany (1991-1992). He was the recipient of the 2010 Norman R. Farnsworth Research Achievement Award of ASP and the 2020 Egon Stahl Award in Gold from GA (Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research), Darmstadt, Germany, both for lifetime contributions to natural products research. He is a Fellow of five professional and scientific associations, as well as of the School of Pharmacy, University of London. Dr. Kinghorn served as elected Chair of the Dietary Supplements: Botanicals Expert Committee of the United States Pharmacopeia (2005-2010) and as a Chartered Member of the Drug Discovery and Molecular Pharmacology NIH Study Section (2009-2013). In April 2016, Prof. Kinghorn was the recipient of a Distinguished Scholar Award of The Ohio State University, and in May 2022 he was selected as a Distinguished University Professor. He has authored or co-authored over 590 peer-reviewed research articles, review articles, and book chapters, and has edited or co-edited 40 scientific volumes. Since 1980, he has received over $35 million as Principal Investigator/Multiple Principal Investigator of many projects supported by both the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and private industry. Currently, Dr. Kinghorn is Principal Investigator of a program project award from the U.S. National Cancer Institute, NIH, entitled “Discovery of Anticancer Agents of Diverse Natural Origin” (P01CA125066; 2007-2025). Dr. Kinghorn has been Major and/or Thesis Advisor/Committee Chair to 50 graduate students and has also directly supervised about 70 postdoctoral students and visiting scholars. He is a former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Natural Products (1994-2019), and since 2008 has been Series Editor-in-Chief of the book series “Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products” (Springer Nature, Cham, Switzerland).

Education

  • 1990, D.Sc., University of London
  • 1975, Ph.D., University of London
  • 1970, M.S., University of Strathclyde
  • 1969, B.Pharm. (Special), University of Bradford

Honors

  • 2022, The Ohio State University Distinguished University Professor
  • 2020, Egon Stahl Award in Gold, GA (Society of Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research)
  • 2016, Dr. Norman R. Farnsworth Keynote Lecturer, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • 2016, Distinguished Scholar Awardee (DSA), The Ohio State University
  • 2014, Coy W. Waller Distinguished Lecture Award, University of Mississippi
  • 2014, David Chu Lecture Award, University of Buffalo
  • 2012, Honorary Member, Phytochemical Society of Asia
  • 2011, Honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) degree, University of Bradford
  • 2011, Norman R. Farnsworth Excellence in Botanical Research Award, American Botanical Council, Austin, TX
  • 2010, Norman R. Farnsworth ASP Research Achievement Award, American Society of Pharmacognosy
  • 2010, Award of Merit, National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute
  • 2010, Percy Julian Memorial Lecture Award, Howard University

Publications