Editors

About the Editor

​Series Editors 

A. DOUGLAS KINGHORN

Dr. A. Douglas Kinghorn was born in 1947 at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom, and is currently Professor and Jack L. Beal Professor and Chair in Natural Products Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, The Ohio State University. Dr. Kinghorn was educated in the United Kingdom, and received degrees from the Universities of Bradford [B. Pharm. (Special) in Pharmacy, 1969], Strathclyde (M.Sc. in Forensic Science, 1970), and London [Ph.D. in Pharmacognosy, 1975; D.Sc. (earned higher doctorate) in Pharmacy, 1990]. He received postdoctoral training at the University of Mississippi (1975-1976) and at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC; 1976-1977). At UIC, he was then appointed as Assistant Professor (1977-1981), Associate Professor with tenure (1981-1986), and Professor (1986-2004). In 2011, he was awarded an Honorary D.Sc. degree from the University of Bradford.

Dr. Kinghorn is a Fellow of five scientific and professional societies [Linnean Society of London; Royal Pharmaceutical Society (London); American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists; American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP); American Association for the Advancement of Science] and of The School of Pharmacy, University of London. He was designated as the 1993 B. Kenneth West University Scholar (Senior University Scholar) by the University of Illinois Foundation and was accorded the 2002-2003 University of Illinois at Chicago Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2010, he received the Norman R. Farnsworth Research Achievement Award of the American Society of Pharmacognosy for lifetime contributions to natural products research.

Dr. Kinghorn’s research has been supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and by private industry since 1980. His research interests are on the isolation, characterization, and biological evaluation of natural products of higher plants of tropical and temperate origin, and he has worked on antimicrobials, botanical dietary supplements, cancer chemopreventive substances, cancer chemotherapeutic agents, and non-cariogenic sweeteners and sweetness modifiers. Since 1988, Dr. Kinghorn has served as a frequent ad hoc NIH grant reviewer, and was also a chartered member of both the AIDS and Related Diseases D (1993-1997) and of the Drug Discovery and Molecular Pharmacology (2009-2013) NIH Study sections. He was elected as Chair of the Dietary Supplements – Botanicals Expert Committee of the U.S. Pharmacopeia (2005-2010).

Dr. Kinghorn has served as President of both the American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP; 1990-1991) and the Society for Economic Botany (1991-1992). He was designated as an Honorary Member of ASP in 2008 and of the Phytochemical Society of Asia in 2012. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Natural Products (1994-; co-published by the American Chemical Society and by ASP) and is Series Editor in Chief of Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products (“Zeichmeister”; Springer Verlag, Vienna), and is on the Editorial or International Advisory Boards of nearly 20 other scientific journals. He has authored or co-authored over 500 peer-reviewed research articles, review articles, and book chapters. Dr. Kinghorn has been Major and/or Thesis Advisor to nearly 50 graduate students and has also directly supervised approximately 60 postdoctoral students and visiting scholars.

HEINZ FALK

Dr.Heinz Falk has been Professor emeritus at the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria since 2007. Dr. Falk studied chemistry at the University of Vienna starting in 1959 and completed his dissertation in metal organic chemistry under Karl Schlögl in 1966. In 1971 he spent a year abroad for a post doc at the ETH Zürich in the laboratory of Albert Eschenmoser. Upon his return to Vienna in 1972 he completed his postdoctoral studies, attaining the Habilitation (qualification as professor) for organic chemistry at the University of Vienna. Starting in 1966 Dr.Falk served as an assistant at the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the University of Vienna before being promoted to associate professor of physical organic chemistry in 1975. Dr. Falk has been invited several times to speak at Gordon Research Conferences. In 1979 he received the call to become full professor of organic chemistry at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz, where he founded the new Institute of Organic Chemistry. He served this chair for 28 years. From 1989 through 1991 he was Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences (TNF) at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz. In 2005 Dr. Falk was ranked #3 among the "Top 10" scientists in Upper Austria.

Falk's main research area is the structural analysis, synthesis, stereochemistry, and photochemistry of plant and animal photosensitizing and photosensory pigments. Besides fundamental studies of the chemistry of bile pigments, the main group of compounds covered in his work are pigments derived from the fundamental phenanthro[1,10,9,8-opqra]perylene-7,14-dione chromophore with natural pigments like hypericin, stentorin, the fringelites, the gymnochromes, and blepharismin. In addition, he has been focusing on hemin-analogous corrphycene derivatives (e.g. as potential blood substitutes and heme oxygenase blocker) as well as on other natural compounds such as the natural sun blocker urocanic acid. Furthermore, he has pursued research on applied problems of industrial relevance, like oxidation, ozonization, non-natural amino acids and catalysis. During the course of his career, Dr. Falk has supervised nearly one hundred doctoral students and post docs.

He has published two books: (1978) Ausgewählte Übungsbeispiele. Zur Nomenklatur Organischer Verbindungen. Wien New York: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 3211814795, and (1989) The Chemistry of Linear Oligopyrroles and Bile Pigments. Wien New York: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 3211821120, which remains to this day the seminal book on the chemistry of this group of natural compounds. Dr. Falk has published roughly 300 papers in refereed scientific journals and has several patents in the areas of oxidation, urea derivatives, non-natural amino acids, and N-oxides. Dr. Falk has served as editor in chief of the Monatshefte für Chemie/Chemical Monthly for the last decade and as series Editor of Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products (Zechmeister; Springer-Verlag Wien NewYork) since 1998.

Dr. Falk served as vice president of the Austrian Chemical Society for several years and he is, in addition to his memberships in the Austrian and German Chemical societies and the New York Academy of Sciences, an elected member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the European Academy of Sciences.

SIMON GIBBONS

Simon Gibbons (SG) is Head of the UEA School of Pharmacy and Professor of Natural Product Chemistry. His group have published over 200 papers on the chemistry and antibacterial activity of natural products from plants and his expertise is in the isolation, structure elucidation and biological evaluation of these compounds. Latterly, the group have also moved in to the analysis of Novel Psychoactive Substances, which are controlled substances that are stimulants, depressants or hallucinogens.

SG currently is a co-opted member of the UK Government Home Office’s Cannabis-Based Medicinal Products Work Group and was a Council Member of the UK Home Office Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) and Chairman of the Novel Psychoactive Substances Committee (NPSC). He was President and Vice-President of the Phytochemical Society of Europe from 2010-2016 and has been honoured for his work as recipient of the Pharmanex Prize for Phytochemistry (2012), the first Tshwane University of Technology Vice Chancellor’s Seminar Award (2009) and the 2005 Phytochemical Society of Europe - Pierre Fabre Award for Phytochemistry.

SG is founding Editor-in-Chief of Phytochemistry Letters and a member of the Editorial Boards of Journal of Natural Products, Phytochemical Analysis, Phytochemistry Reviews, Fitoterapia, Phytotherapy Research, Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines (CJNM), Scientia Pharmaceutica, Natural Products and Bioprospecting and Phytopharmacotherapy.

YOSHINORI ASAKAWA

Professor Yoshinori Asakawa obtained a B.Sc. degree from the Department of Biology, Tokushima University in 1964, followed by M.Sc. and Ph.D. qualifications from the Department of Chemistry at Hiroshima University; his Ph.D. degree was awarded in 1972. From 1969 until 1976, Professor Asakawa was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Hiroshima University, but during that period (1972–74) he spent time as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Université Louis Pasteur in France under the direction of Professor Guy Ourisson. In 1976, Professor Asakawa was appointed as an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Tokushima Bunri University, followed by promotion to Full Professor in 1981 and Dean in 1986. He served as Dean until 1989 and then had a second spell in this position between 2000 and 2003. In 1986, Professor Asakawa was appointed as the Director of the Institute of Pharmacognosy at Tokushima Bunri University, a title that he still holds.

Professor Asakawa has widespread research interests that have involved the isolation and structure elucidation of bioactive metabolites from bryophytes, pteridophytes, inedible mushrooms, medicinal and aromatic plants, and insects. He has also been heavily involved in investigating the biotransformation of secondary metabolites by fungi and mammals, and the total synthesis of natural products. Other major interests have included chemical reactions of organic per-acids, and the chemical phylogeny of spore-forming plants. Altogether, Professor Asakawa has published over 670 original research papers and 39 books, including three volumes of “Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products”, published by Springer International.

Professor Asakawa’s renown has led to him receiving numerous awards, both national and international. These include the First Hedwig Medal (International Association of Bryologists) in 1983, the International Phytochemistry Prize and Certificate in 1997, the International Symposium on Essential Oil Award in 2004, the Jack Cannon Gold Medal Award (Malaysian Natural Product Society) in 2009, the Medical University of Lublin Gold Medal in 2011, the Japanese Society of Pharmacognosy Award in 2011, the Polish Pharmacy Embassy Certificate in 2013, and the Gusi International Peace Prize in 2014. Professor Asakawa was also made Doctor Honoris Causa of the Medical University of Lublin in 2012.

Professor Asakawa has been Editor, Associate Editor or a member of the Editorial Board of many journals, inclusive of “Bryology Research”, “Current Chemical Biology”, “Fitoterapia”, “Flavour and Fragrance Journal”, the “Journal of Natural Products”, “Natural Product Communications”, “Natural Product Research”, “Phytochemistry”, “Phytochemistry Letters”, “Phytomedicine”, “Planta Medica”, and “Spectroscopy”. He has also been a council member of the Chemistry of Terpenes, Essential Oils and Aromatics (TEAC) from 1977 and President since 2015, and is a Permanent Member of the International Symposium on Essential Oils (ISEO). Professor Awakawa was President of the Japanese Bryological Society between 2000 and 2001, and has been President of the Phytochemical Society of Asia since 2007.

Professor Asakawa has delivered plenary and invited lectures in 49 countries altogether, and has received 52 postdoctoral fellows from 21 countries as well as several Master’s and Ph.D. students from 11 countries.

JI-KAI LIU

Professor Ji-Kai Liu was born at Anhui, China, and is currently a full-time Professor and Dean at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China. His research area focuses on bioactive compounds obtained from higher fungi, and includes aspects of natural product chemical biology, total synthesis, and biosynthesis.

Prof. Liu acquired his Ph.D. degree at Lanzhou University in 1988, specializing in Organic Chemistry. Following this, he served at Sun Yat-Sen University as a faculty member until 1995, where he worked on natural products chemistry. During the period 1993–1994, he was an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow at the University of the Saarland in Germany. From 1996–1997, he worked as a Senior Scientist at the Pharmaceutical Research Center of Bayer AG in Wuppertal, Germany. In 1997, he was appointed as Professor of Natural Products Chemistry at Kunming Institute of Botany (KIB), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and served as a Vice President of KIB and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Plant Resources in West China during the period 2006–2014.

Prof. Liu has published over 280 scientific papers in many of the leading internationally recognized peer-reviewed journals in his field. He is the author of a book entitled “Mycochemistry” and a co-author of a chapter in Volume 106 (2017) of “Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products” (“Zechmeister”) entitled “Secondary Metabolites from Higher Fungi”. In addition, he has been named as a co-inventor for more than ten patents. Prof. Liu has received an array of honors and awards, such as the Hundred Talent Program of CAS (1995), the Bayer-CAS Award (2002), the National Natural Science Prize (2003, 2nd Class; the Central People's Government of China), three Natural Science Prizes (2007, 2015, first Class; the Government of Yunnan Province), and the 2nd. Tan Jiazhen Life Science Award (2009). Moreover, in 2009, Prof. Liu was named as Chief Scientist of the 973 Project.

He is founding Editor-in-Chief of “Natural Products and Bioprospecting”, and currently serves as Associate Editor of the “Journal of Ginseng Research.”, and is or has been an Editorial Board member for seven international journals, namely, the “Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines”, “Drug Discovery and Therapeutics”, the “Journal of Asian Natural Products Research”, the “Journal of Chemical Ecology”, “Mycological Progress”, “Phytochemistry Letters”, and “Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C”.

VERENA M. DIRSCH

Verena Dirsch studied Pharmacy at the University of Munich, Germany (1984-1989) and received her Ph.D 1993 in the group of Prof. Hildebert Wagner. As a fellow of the German Research Council (DFG) she joined for one year the group of Prof. Koji Nakanishi as a postdoc at the Columbia University, New York, USA (1994-1995). From 1995 to 2004 she held several positions in the group of Prof. Angelika Vollmar, first at the Institute of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacy of the Faculty of Veterinarian Medicine (1995-1998) and later at the Department of Pharmacy (1998-2004), both at the University of Munich. She received her venia legendi for Pharmaceutical Biology and Pharmacology in 2002/2003. Since 2004, she is full professor at the University of Vienna and since 2006 head of the Department of Pharmacognosy. Currently she serves also as Vice-Dean at the Faculty of Life Sciences (2008 2010).

Her main research fields are the molecular mechanisms/target identification of natural products that affect vascular smooth muscle cell growth or nitric oxide production in endothelial cells as well as the identification of new anti-inflammatory compounds using various targets/signaling pathways for cell-based screening programs in collaboration with phytochemical groups.

Editorial Advisory Board

AGNIESZKA LUDWICZUK

Dr. Agnieszka Ludwiczuk was born in 1974 in Biala Podlaska, Poland, and is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacognosy with the Medicinal Plants Unit, Medical University of Lublin, Poland. She studied chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland, and received her Master’s degree in 1998. In 2005, she obtained her Ph.D. degree in pharmaceutical sciences from Medical University of Lublin, and in 2015 she finished her habilitation. From April 2007 until March 2010 she worked as a postdoctoral at Tokushima Bunri University, Tokushima, Japan, under the direction of Prof. Yoshinori Asakawa. Her scientific output to date comprises about 80 scientific papers published in international and domestic journals concerning natural products chemistry, separation methods, extraction techniques, and biological activity. She is also coauthor of monograph entitled “Chemical constituents of bryophytes: Bio- and chemical diversity, biological activity and chemosystematics” published in the series of Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products, and 5 book chapters. Her research interest are on the bioactivity-guided isolation and the structure characterization of compounds from medicinal, aromatic and spore-forming plants. She is particularly focused on terpenoid constituents present in liverworts species as well as their endophytes. Her scientific interest cover in addition the assessment of the suitability of specialized metabolites present in the liverworts, for correct identification of the plant material and for determination of the intra- and interspecific relationships. Dr. Ludwiczuk is a co-founder of the Section of Herbal Drugs of the Polish Pharmaceutical Society, and the member of Polish Botanical Society. She was designated as an Advisory Board Member of Phytochemical Society of Asia in 2012, and the Member of the Permanent Scientific Committee of the International Symposium of Essential Oils (ISEO) in 2012, and of the Symposium on the Chemistry of Terpenes, Essential Oils and Aromatics (TEAC) in 2013. She is the member of Editorial Advisory Board of Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products, and the Editorial

Boards of Phytochemistry Letters and Natural Volatiles and Essential Oils.

C. BENJAMIN NAMAN

Dr. C. Benjamin Naman obtained his B.S. degree in Chemistry and Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University in 2006 before joining Givaudan Flavors Corp. for four years in chemical industry discovering new natural flavors and fragrances for the food, beverage, and perfumer markets. He served as technical project manager for global citrus research and development and was a key asset on the natural sweetness team, ultimately contributing to several marketed flavor products and a new patented, FEMA GRAS status, and commercialized natural sweetness ingredient before returning to academia. He went on to earn his Ph.D. as a student of Prof. A. Douglas Kinghorn in the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, The Ohio State University in 2015, researching cancer chemoprotective constituents of botanical dietary supplement ingredients (e.g. berry extracts) and the antiparasitic and cytotoxic properties of natural products isolated from medicinal plants. He moved on to a postdoctoral research position in the lab of Professor William Gerwick at the Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California – San Diego from 2015-2017, to develop expertise in the natural products chemistry of marine filamentous cyanobacteria and modern informatics approaches to this study. During that time, he also participated in international exchanges in India and China prior to eventually accepting a faculty position in China, late 2017, as associate professor and, in early 2019, being appointed as deputy director of the Department of Marine Pharmacy, College of Food and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ningbo University. The Naman lab at Ningbo University is focused on the discovery of new bioactive natural products from Traditional Chinese Medicinal (TCM) plants and South China Sea marine cyanobacteria, along with other untapped resources, and has obtained national-level grant funding from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MOST) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). More information about Dr. Naman’s research group can be found here: https://www.namanlab.com/.

Dr. Naman has been a long-time member of the American Chemical Society (ACS; 2005-), the American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP; 2012-), the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS; 2012-), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS; 2014-). In 2015, he was selected by the Chemical Abstracts Service division of ACS to receive a SciFinder Future Leaders Award, and in 2018 to join the cohort of AAAS Scientific Diplomacy Leadership Fellows. In 2020, he was elected to serve as the Younger Members Representative on the Executive Committee of the ASP from 2020-2022. He is an author or coauthor of more than 35 published journal articles, book chapters, and awarded patents, and has given over 50 refereed conference lectures or invited seminars on natural products chemistry, drug discovery, dietary supplements, natural medicine, bioprospecting, research ethics and biodiversity protection.

DIRK TRAUNER

Dirk Trauner, born April 17th 1967 in Linz, Austria, studied Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Vienna from 1986–1991. From 1992–1995 he switched to study Chemistry at the Free University of Berlin and completed his Diploma under Johann Mulzer, whom he followed to Frankfurt and subsequently Vienna as an Assistant. In 1997 he completed his PhD under Mulzer at the University of Vienna with summa cum laude. From 1998–2000 he was a postdoc under Samuel J. Danishefsky at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. In 2000 he moved to the University of California, Berkeley, where from 2000–2006 he was Assistant Professor (with tenure) and from 2006–2010 Associate Professor, with additional affiliation to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory from 2005–2008. From 2008–2017 he was Professor for Chemical Biology and Chemical Genetics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He currently resides as Janice Cutler Chair and Adjunct Professor of Neuroscience and Physiology at New York University.

Among his honors are: 2019, the Adolf Lieben Lectureship of the Austrian Chemical Society, 2017, Member, Leopoldina — German Academy of Sciences, 2016, Otto Bayer Award, 2016, Emil-Fischer-Medal of the German Chemical Society, 2015–2016, George Büchi Lecturer at MIT, 2014–2015, Morris S. Kharasch Visiting Professor, University of Chicago,

2014–2015, Novartis Chemistry Lectureship, 2013, Kitasato Microbial Chemistry Medal, 2012, Beijing University Shenzhen Graduate School Lectureship, 2012, Nankai University Lectureship, 2011, Corresponding Member, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2011 Hofmann Lecture, Imperial College, London, 2011, European Research Council Advanced Investigator Grant, 2010, Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship, 2010, Andy Derome Lecturer, University of Oxford, 2010, Givaudan/Karrer Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Zurich, 2008, Roche Excellence in Chemistry Award, 2007, Schulich Lecturer, Technion, Israel, 2004 – 2006, Japanese-American Frontiers of Science Fellow, 2005, Novartis Young Investigator Award, 2004, Amgen Young Investigator Award, 2004, AstraZeneca Young Investigator Award, 2004, Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, 2003, NSF Career Award, 2003, GlaxoSmithKline Chemistry Scholar Award, 2003, Eli Lilly Grantee Award, 2003, NARSAD Young Investigator Award, 2002, Hellman Family Faculty Award, UC Berkeley, 1998 – 2000, Schering Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, 1997, Austrian Chemical Society Award (best thesis of the year 1997).

Prof. Trauner serves the Community in many positions as Editor or Adviser. He is a member of the American, Austrian and German Cheical Societies, and the Leopoldina – German Academy of Sciences, and a corrsponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Professor Trauner is known for his work on the synthesis of natural products and in photopharmacology. His view is that many biologically active compounds even of low molecular weight have not yet been discovered, and he has directed his research group to perform the total synthesis of such compounds. He is a pioneer in the area of photopharmacology, the control over the activity of biologically active substances using light, with potential applications in cancer therapy and in vision restoration. He has hitherto published his work in about 260 papers in most distinguished journals.

GIOVANNI APPENDINO

Born in Carmagnola (TO), September 1, 1955 and graduated at the University of Torino in 1979. University Lecturer in 1983 (University of Torino); Associated Professor in 1998 (University of Torino); Full Professor from 2000 to present at the Università del Piemonte Orientale, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Visiting scientist at the University of Gent (Belgium) in 1985 (Laboratory of Organic Synthesis, Prof. Pierre De Clercq).

Editor in Chief of the Journal Fitoterapia and member of the Advisory Board of European Journal of Organic Chemistry, Phytochemistry Letters, The Open Natural Products Journal, Natural Products Communications and PharmaNutrition.

The research activity of Prof. Appendino takes inspiration from natural products to address problems in organic chemistry (new synthetic methodologies), cell biology (novel mechanisms of activity), and medicine (new drug leads).

The following lines of research are currently pursued:

Brain lipidomics: identification, synthesis and chemical modification of bioactive endolipids (endocannabinoids, endovanilloids, endogenous eicosanoids) and their natural products mimics (cannabinoids, capsaicinoids)

Sensory chemoreception: Synthesis of molecular probes to explore various classes of TRP-(TRPV1, TRPM8, TRPA1, TRPV4) and bitter (hTAS2R family) receptors, and their pharmacological exploitation.

Anticancer and antiviral chemotherapy: Synthesis of molecules aimed at various oncological end-points (tubulin, PgP, NF-B, PKC) and at achieving HIV de-latentization (phorboids).

Synthetic methodologies: chemoselective modification of polyfunctional compounds (polyphenolics, phenolic alcohols, phenolic amines). Development of new protocols of functional group modification.

Bioprospecting: secondary metabolites from niche area (Sardinia, Mediterranean Alps) and from medicinal plants.

Secondary metabolites from edible plants and spices: identification of neutraceutical agents from local food plants.

Prof. Appendino has elucidated the structure of over 300 new natural products, and has published over 350 peer-reviewed articles and 11 book chapters on the chemistry and bioactivity of natural products. His distinctions include the Rhône-Poulenc Rorer Award of the Phytochemical Society of Europe for his studies on terpenoids (1991), the Quilico Medal of the Italian Chemical Society for his studies on bioactive natural products (2009), and the Bruker Award of the Phytochemical Society of Europe (2014).

RACHEL MATA

Rachel Mata is an Emeritus Professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She obtained her Ph.D. degree from Purdue University, W. Lafayette, IN, USA, in 1979. Following a postdoctoral stay at the Institute of Chemistry at UNAM, she became an Assistant Professor of the School of Chemistry at the same university in 1985, and was promoted to Full Professor in 1992. Prof. Mata served as Head of the Department of Pharmacy from 2003 to 2012, and since 2013 has been a member of the Advisory Board of the School of Chemistry. Moreover, she has served on several National and International Advisory Boards, including the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, USA, from 2003 to 2007. Prof. Mata is a Past-President of the Phytochemical Society of North America (1996-1997) and was named as a Fellow of the American Society of Pharmacognosy in 2014. Her work has contributed significantly to knowledge of Mexican traditional medicine by establishing the chemical composition and biological properties of many widely used herbal drugs. She has published over 200 original papers as well as several book chapters and books on medicinal plants from Mexico. She was a Visiting Professor at the University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA, and has collaborated with many research groups from Mexico, Canada, the UK, and the USA. These contributions have earned her both national and international recognition, including being named as an Emeritus National Researcher from CONACyT-Mexico in 2015, and in receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Purdue University in 1998, the National Chemistry Research Award from the Mexican Chemical Society in 2013, and the Norman Farnsworth Research Achievement Award from the American Society of Pharmacognosy in 2014. She has trained numerous Ph.D. students, of whom many are now gainfully employed in academia.

JUN’ICHI KOBAYASHI

Dr. Jun’ichi Kobayashi was born in 1949 at Hirosaki, Japan. He completed his B.S. degree in 1973, and his M.S. degree in 1975, at Hokkaido University, working with Professor Yoshihisa Mizuno on studies of nucleic acid synthesis. In 1975 he joined Mitsubishi-Kasei Institute of Life Sciences where he worked on the synthesis and conformational analyses of bioactive peptides. After receiving his Ph.D. from Hokkaido University in 1979, he initiated his research program on marine natural products and worked at the University of Illinois with Professor K. L. Rinehart from 1982 to 1984. In 1989 he was appointed as a full professor at Hokkaido University, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, where he still continues his research career. He has received the 2008 Sumiki-Umezawa Memorial Award from Japan Antibiotics Research Association.

Dr. Kobayashi's research has been supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan and by private industries. His main research interests are directed to search for bioactive natural products from marine organisms, terrestrial plants, and marine/terrestrial microorganisms and their application to the basic research of life sciences as well as the development of new drugs.

Dr. Kobayashi is a member of Editorial Advisory Boards of the Journal of Organic Chemistry (2002-present; published by the American Chemical Society) and the Journal of Natural Products (2000-present; co-published by the American Chemical Society and ASP), and Editorial Boards of the Journal of Antibiotics (2007-present; published by Nature Publishing Group), and is Series co-Editor of Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products (“Zeichmeister”; Springer Verlag, Vienna). He has authored or co-authored about 530 peer-reviewed research articles, review articles, and book chapters. Dr. Kobayashi has been Major and/or Thesis Advisor to 100 graduate students.