My general research interests are in the areas of medicinal and bioorganic chemistry. Specifically, my lab has several research directions that include anticancer, antimicrobial, drug delivery, and new diagnostics. In addition, my lab also has a major effort in developing rapid and sensitive detection methods for microbial pathogens that can be used in medical clinics as well as for biodefense.

With the rapid development of genomic and biological sciences, future demands on the pharmaceutical profession will not only be on medicines that treat life-threatening diseases, but also agents that help to prevent diseases, detect diseases early, and improve the quality of life and life expectancy. Several research areas will be critical to the pharmaceutical industry in the decades to come: tailor-made medicines that have minimal toxicity, targeted delivery of therapeutic agents to the desired site of action, and early detection of diseases such as cancer based on changes at the molecular level. Our lab has research programs in all three areas, where we hope to make major contributions.

Early detection represents one of the best approaches to improving the survival rates of cancer patients. Our lab is pioneering an approach to develop new diagnostics for the early detection of cancers based on their molecular signatures.

The emergence of drug resistant bacteria and fungi is becoming a major concern in the biomedical community. One way for bacteria and fungi to develop drug resistance is the expression of an efflux pump that helps to reduce the intracellular drug concentrations. We are researching a novel approach to target the efflux pump for the development of antimicrobial agents that can overcome such drug resistance problems. In addition, we are working on a new bacterial target that has no mammalian counterpart for the development of novel antimicrobial agents.

The far-reaching vision of the political, academic, scientific, and business leaders in Georgia in establishing the Georgia Research Alliance is a major driving force in the development of Georgia’s higher education infrastructure. This is also one of the reasons that I decided to come to Georgia State University. Another reason is the academic environment at Georgia State University, which encourages interdisciplinary activities and collaborations.