Natural Products

Dr. Carcache de Blanco's research interests focus on the discovery of bioactive constituents from natural product sources with potential application in cancer chemoprevention and chemotherapy. She is also interested in the study of botanical dietary supplements and other herbal products used in traditional medicine.

The research in Dr. Fuchs' lab focuses on the design and preparation of bioactive molecules for therapeutic applications against cancer and infectious diseases. His lab utilizes fundamental chemical knowledge and synthetic methodology to facilitate the process of drug discovery and development through the generation of biological probe molecules, the synthesis and modification of lead compounds, and the optimization of drug properties. The overarching goals of these studies are to understand the mechanisms through which small molecules interact with proteins or other biomolecules in the context of disease progression and to improve the potential utility of promising new compounds to help them advance toward the clinic. Recently, the Fuchs lab has collaborated with numerous labs in the areas of natural product drug development for various cancers, the preparation of protein degraders active against leukemia, and HIV-1 capsid and integrase drug development.

Dr. Hernandez’s area of focus is health care access. His current practice site is a federally qualified health center in central Ohio, where he provides experiential education in the ambulatory care setting to students in the PharmD program. His passion lies in preparing students to provide holistic, patient-centered care to the most vulnerable populations.

My interdisciplinary research program is inspired by the metabolic diversity of microorganisms and the vast array of compounds they produce. Working at the interface of chemistry and biology, my group combines approaches in chemistry, biochemistry, bioinformatics, genetics, and systems biology to discover new natural products, identify bioactivity and mode of action, and to decipher the metabolic basis of their biosynthesis. Ultimately, we seek to translate insights gained from our investigations into solutions for modern day challenges facing human health and the environment. These include new antibiotics to counter drug-resistant pathogens, novel herbicides and biocontrol agents to improve pest management and food security, and engineered biocatalysts to facilitate chemical production by green chemistry and industrial biotechnology.

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.

Dr. Mehta's areas of focus include development and implementation of innovative pharmacy practices in community-based settings, self-care/integrative medicines and training student pharmacists and post-graduate trainees to be the future change agents in pharmacy practice. Her scholarship centers on practice advancement, scholarship of teaching and learning and well-being and resiliency in the workplace. Dr. Mehta's leadership focuses on supporting faculty, staff and trainees, encouraging them to achieve their personal and professional goals that are moving the profession forward and lead the collective effort that envisions OSU as the model leader in pharmacy practice.

New natural product sources, such as new and unidentified fungal and bacterial microorganisms, microbial endophytes, and endemic and medicinal plant species, contain many undiscovered potential bioactive secondary metabolites that can be used to combat the world’s deadly diseases including cancer, malaria, and viral infections. Dr. Rakotondraibe’s laboratory focuses on the investigation of these new natural product sources to discover novel pharmacophores of potential drug candidates. We routinely perform bioassay-guided isolation, structural elucidation and development of bioactive compounds from natural sources (higher plants, liverworts, lichens, soil- and marine-derived microbes as well as microbial endophytes). Our recent ongoing projects include the isolation of mycobionts of U.S. lichens and the investigation of their bioactive secondary metabolites.

• Chromatography supported isolation of the minor components from higher plants or other natural organisms.
• Spectroscopic aided structure determination of complex natural products.
• Synthetic modification of bioactive lead compounds.
• Single-crystal X-ray diffraction based determination of conformation and configuration of natural products with multiple chiral centers.
• Bioassay design, development, and performance to evaluate the bioactivities of natural products.