I recently had my M.Phil upgrade seminar for which I was successful and have now embarked on the Ph.D aspect of my project. During my master’s, I worked with the fungus, Exophiala lecanii- corni, to conduct fungal biotransformations of novel substrates. Efforts are now being made to chemically mimic the cytochrome P450 enzyme within fungi, which can functionalize remote areas of natural products, in an effort to catalyze the synthesis of new analogues which could possess an improved biological activity. This could be achieved by first synthesizing an metallo-porphyrin system and usuing an organic tether to anchor the porphyrin to the substrate, to effect functionalization. This could shorten the time taken to conduct fermentations as well as improve the yields for a target metabolite.
The project also includes the synthesis of C-4 oxo-steroids which have shown potent anticancer properties. An example of one such steroid is formestane (1) which has made its way to the market in the treatment of breast cancer. There are only two known methods to synthesizing these compounds, but the reagents used are usually expensive or pose a toxic threat to the researcher or consumers. Thus efforts are being made to make these compounds employing cheaper and less toxic reagents.
During my studies I have been the recipient of a research grant in 2019 from the Office of Graduate Studies and Research to purchase chemicals and glassware. I have also presented my research at the Mona Symposium on two occasions in 2018 and 2020. I was also the president of the UWI Mona Chemical Society for the academic year 2019-2020 and I am the current president of the local chapter of the American Chemical Society (2019- present).
After I have completed my studies in this program, it is my hope to conduct research in the field of medicinal chemistry as this has always been a long term goal of mine.
