My current research focuses on the design and synthesis of novel compounds that can be effective against viral hemorrhagic fevers, and diseases related to the liver including Hepatitis B and liver cancer. My goal is to deliver compounds that are not only potent in in-vitro assays but are also efficacious in in-vivo models with good absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) profiles.

I have training in organic chemistry and more than eighteen years of expertise in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. My experience spans both industry and academia and ranges from natural product modification to rationally designed molecules. At current position, I have been working with collaborators in biology to optimize the hit compounds that they discovered through library screening. We have successfully demonstrated that we can carry out hit-to-lead, lead optimization, and preclinical development where several projects have received financial support for further development and a number of lead series have been licensed out with one lead compound having completed human phase 1 clinical trial (AB-423). Prior to Blumberg Institute, I worked in two biopharmaceutical companies, Fox Chase Chemical Diversity Center and Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, in the fields of anticonvulsants and antibiotics.