David A. Colby
Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Research Professor in the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Director of Online Graduate Programs for BioMolecular Sciences
Dr. Colby's teaching and research interests include medicinal chemistry, natural products, drug discovery, and dietary supplements. We aim to design drugs for patients with diseases that have no or few existing treatment options using natural products as the initial inspiration for discovery. We are actively working in neurodegenerative disorders as well as addiction and addiction-related behavior. In our laboratory, we seek to use compounds isolated from nature, or natural products, for drug discovery and the development of dietary supplements. We are also developing synthetic methods to modify complex organic molecules and to install fluorine, which is valuable in many pharmaceuticals.
Research Interests
- The blending of the science of medicinal chemistry and synthetic organic chemistry with natural products chemistry and the design of structural analogues for structure-activity investigations.
- The creation of novel structures displaying a fluorine atom for use in chemical and pharmaceutical research.
Biography
David A. Colby is a Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in the Department of BioMolecular Sciences. He earned a Pharm.D. (with honors in pharmacy and with distinction) from the University of Iowa in 2001. He completed a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California at Irvine in 2006. Dr. Colby completed postdoctoral studies at the The Scripps Research Institute in 2008. He was on the faculty at Purdue University in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology with a joint appointment in the Department of Chemistry from 2008 to 2014. In 2014, Dr. Colby moved to the University of Mississippi in the Department of BioMolecular Sciences in the School of Pharmacy. Dr. Colby’s research interests are medicinal chemistry, natural products chemistry, organic synthesis, fluorine chemistry, drug design, and dietary supplements.
Education
Ph.D. Chemistry, University of California-Irvine (2006)