Events Calendar

Wawzonek Lecture Series: Featuring Dr. Emmanuel Theodorakis of the University of California San Diego

Title: "Drug discovery through the eyes of an organic chemist"

Abstract: Drug discovery is a complex interdisciplinary pursuit of pharmacology and clinical sciences that relies heavily on advances made in the sciences of biology and chemistry. On this front, chemistry aims to overcome challenges related to supply, bioactivity, pharmacological profile and target selectivity of a drug hit. Information derived from such a combined effort leads to the identification of new drug candidates and ultimately the discovery of new medicines. The presentation will highlight recent efforts by the Theodorakis group on: (a) the natural product-driven synthesis and drug discovery and (b) the development of fluorescent probes for imaging and sensing.

Bio: Born and raised in Greece, Dr. Theodorakis received his undergraduate education at the National University of Athens before moving to France to pursue his graduate education in chemical synthesis. His M.Sc. studies were performed at the Institute of Chemistry of Natural Products (ICSN-CNRS) under the direction of Professor H.-P. Husson, on the synthesis of piperidine alkaloids. In 1989, he moved to College Station, to perform his Ph.D. studies at Texas A&M University under the direction of Sir Derek H. R. Barton on the discovery of new radical reactions. Subsequently, he joined the research group of Professor K. C. Nicolaou at The Scripps Research Institute where he was involved in the synthesis of natural products including calicheamicin and brevetoxin. In 1995, he joined the faculty at UCSD where he is currently a Professor and the T.G. Traylor Scholar at the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry.  The Theodorakis group is engaged in the study of small molecules that can be used as biological tools to control cellular function and as lead structures for drug discovery. Building upon the foundations of organic chemistry, his research program invokes interdisciplinary interactions with other fields such as bioengineering, biochemistry, pharmacology and molecular and cellular biology. These activities aim to translate chemical reactivity of the target molecules to biological properties ultimately yielding new insights regarding natural products-based cellular biology, mode of action and potential drug discovery/development. Professor Theodorakis has co-authored over 150 publications and 10 patents and has given over 200 lectures and presentations. He has served as the Chair of the Synthesis, Materials and Chemical Biology (SMCB) section at UCSD and is currently a member of the UCSD Moores Cancer Center, and the Center of Drug Discovery ?nnovation. He has also served as the Local Chair of the National Organic Chemistry symposium (NOS 2022) that took place in San Diego in June 26-30, 2022.