IBDD Seminar Series - Eric Schmidt, University of Utah

Yale Institute of Biomolecular Design and Discovery at Yale West Campus presents: Eric Schmidt, PhD, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacy, Univ. of Utah: “Hidden Biochemical Diversity Encoded in Animal Genomes.” Prof. Schmidt’s projects focus on marine animals from the coral reef. The animals and their compounds are beautiful, and they are therapeutically important. His laboratory examines the chemistry of ecological interaction. They use methods such as metagenomics and biochemistry to ask who makes the important compounds, whether symbiotic bacteria, the animal itself, or other organism. They ask how the compounds are built, uncovering new types of biochemical reactions and enzymes. The applications of these fundamental studies are numerous. Animal compounds are used as pharmaceuticals, and compounds from their lab are leads in various therapeutic areas. The underlying biosynthetic pathways can be used as tools for synthetic biology, and pathways from their lab are in commercial use in biotechnology and drug discovery. Host: Jason Crawford, PhD, Prof. of Chemistry.
Yale West Campus, 600 West Campus Drive, Conference Center, MIC, Room 310, on Tues, Jan. 9, 2024, 1:00 to 2:00 pm. Refreshments will be served. Zoom link available. Contact: cynthia.ziehl@yale.edu