The Natural Products Journal

Prof. Bin Wu obtained his Ph.D. in the field of organic chemistry in 2007 at the Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University and pursued research at the Pharmaceutical College in the field of Medicinal Chemistry as a Post-doc research fellow. In 2015, he was promoted as full professor at the Ocean College of Zhejiang University and is engaged in various fields related to the discovery of new marine natural products, evaluation of microbial diversity of unique marine habitats to the development of new ways of culture and molecular methods to access cryptic natural product biosynthetic pathways, development of new approaches to purify and characterize polysaccharides, characterization of toxins to the research of metallomics.

Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary is a Distinguished National Professor of Organic Chemistry and Director at International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry and Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research). He is among the most prominent scientists of Pakistan, recognized for his original contributions in the fields of natural products and bioorganic chemistry. He has written and edited 50 books, most of which have been published in USA and Europe. He is also the author of over 900 research papers and chapters in top international science journals of the West, as well as 43 US patents. The cumulative impact factor of his publications is over 1,750. This is by far the largest number of quality publications from any scientist in Pakistan. He has been among the most cited scientists of Pakistan in last five years with citations exceeding 11,000 (h-Index: 41).

Robert E. Smith is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Park University and a Science Advisor for the U.S. FDA. He has written five books, nine chapters in four other books, seven FDA Laboratory Information Bulletins (LIBs), two editorials as a guest editor for special issues of journals and 101 journal articles. This includes three editions of an ebook titled Medicinal Chemistry – Fusion of Traditional and Western Medicine, published by Bentham Science. His research interests include analytical chemistry, food chemistry, biochemistry and medicinal chemistry.

Dr. Salvatore Genovese obtained Honour Degree in Pharmacy in 2004 and in Ph.D in Chemistry and Technology of Drugs from the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Perugia in 2008. During the doctorate course, he was working at the Institute “Claudius Regaud”, INSERM, Regional Center of Research on Cancer of Tolouse (France). Currently, Dr. Genovese is a Professor of pharmaceutical biology in the Department of Pharmacy at the University “G. D’Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara. He got the Italian national certification for associate professor of Medicinal Chemistry. He has published more than 125 scientific publications and is a named inventor of 1 European patent. Dr. Genovese is a Regional Editor of the “The Natural Products Journal” and is a member of the editorial board of Anti-Inflammatory & Anti-allergy Agents In Medicinal Chemistry published by Bentham.

Professor Hussein is a group leader of a natural products group and a professor of organic chemistry in the Department of Chemistry @CPUT, Cape Town, South Africa. His research interests cover both natural products chemistry aspects and green nanotechnology. His main research focus is understanding the chemical and physical interaction(s) of different natural capping agents at the interface of metal nanoparticles. Additionally, the group is dedicated to unlocking the potential of cape flora for new and potent natural bioactive compounds with health benefits.

Professor Aburjai has completed PhD in natural product chemistry and analysis, QC of Natural products and nutraceuticals from Milan University and he received post doctorate from University of Kentucky. He has published more than 200 papers in reputed journals, symposium abstract and patent applications. He has been serving as an editorial board member of reputable pharmaceutical journals. Besides, he has ample of experience in drug development, registration and GMP implementation. He is an official consultant of many regional and international pharmaceutical industries. Moreover, he was ex. Vice president and Dean of different faculties of pharmacy and has excellent administrative experience.

Dr. Gabriel Akyirem Akowuah is currently an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and the Head of Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is Head of the Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department at UCSI University and has supervised the academic and administrative works of the department. He has supervised the assessment of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, along with research projects and acquisition of research grants. He teaches organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and pharmaceutical analysis at the undergraduate level. He also teaches separation science and spectroscopic methods at postgraduate level. Dr. Akowuah received his PhD from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the Science University of Malaysia in 2005 in pharmaceutical chemistry. Dr. Akowuah is the author of over 50 publications and 30 presentations in various areas of pharmaceutical, phytochemical and biomedical analyses, toxicology, pharmacokinetic and bioavailability studies.

Dr. Alessandra Ammazzalorso obtained her PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Chieti (Italy) in 2001. Since 2004, she has been an Assistant Professor at Pharmacy Department of the University of Chieti. Her research interests include the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel small molecules, mainly compounds targeting peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors, aromatase and nitric oxide synthase.

AZRINA Azlan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia. She obtained her B.Sc. in Food Science and Nutrition from the UKM in 1995 and Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from the UPM in 2005. Her research areas include Nutrition-Related Chronic Diseases, Supplements and Functional Foods, as well as Food and Nutrition Databases. She has published more than 140 journal articles, 6 books and 15 book chapters. She has won medals locally and internationally.

Vassya Bankova, PhD, DSc, is a full professor in Natural Product Chemistry at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia. She has worked as a guest-researcher at the Ruhr University – Bochum, the University of Saarland, Saarbruecken, the Bandeirante University, Sao Paulo, and the Institute of Molecules of Biological Interest, Naples. Her research interests are directed towards search for new biologically active compounds from unexplored biological subjects such as endemic plants, mushrooms, bee products; development of modern reliable methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis of the active components in complex natural extracts. Her special interest is devoted to the bee product propolis (bee glue). Her total number of publications is over 200, she has an h-index of 43. She is a member of the International Honey Commission and president of the Bulgarian Phytochemical Society.

Stefano chimichi was appointed as assistant professor in 1976 and Associate Professor of Organic Chemistry in 1985. In 1986 Prof. Chimichi spent one year as visiting professor at the University of Zürich working with prof. W. von Philipsborn in the field of NMR spectroscopy.Full professor in 2001 at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Florence, teaching: Physical Methods in Organic Chemistry (from 1993), Organic Chemistry, Chemistry of Organic Natural Compounds (from 1994).

Prof. Anwar Gilani’s career is that of a distinguished Pharmacologist, combining novel discoveries and distinctive mentorship roles, who won merit scholarship from primary school to PhD. After completing his PhD (Pharmacology) from the University of Sydney, Australia in 1985, Dr. Gilani returned home and joined the Aga Khan University as lecturer and rose to full Professor in 1997, through accelerated promotions, where he occupied multiple leadership positions which include, Vice Chair, Research and Graduate Studies, Director, PhD Program in Health Sciences and Chair, Board of Graduate Studies, in addition to overseas positions (Tandem Dean, College of Health Sciences at the Mekelle University, Ethiopia) before occupying his current position, Chairman, Pakistan Council for Science and Technology in Jan 2015.

Dr. Zaheer Ul-Haq is directing the Computational Chemistry group at the Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug research, University of Karachi. He obtained his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman and completed his post-doctoral studies with Prof. Bernd M. Rode in Innsbruck, Austria. He is a recipient of Fulbright and Humboldt Fellowship from USA and Germany, respectively. He has published over 100 research articles in top international journals and he is the editor of a series of book entitled “Frontiers in Computational Chemistry. His area of interest includes in silico screening and Molecular Dynamics simulation of bio-molecules.

Dr. Hezhong Jiang obtained his Ph. D. degree in 2011 from the State Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Plant Resources in West China, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Currently, he is a member of Chinese Chemical Society, and an Associate Professor at the School of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University (China). Dr. Jiang has experience in the area of Chemistry of Natural Products, working mainly in: Bioactive Compounds, Structure-activity Relationship, and Pharmacological Mechanism of Medicinal plants and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Dr. Jean Paul Kamdem obtained his PhD degree in Biochemistry in 2013 from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, as a TWAS-CNPq Fellow under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Diogo Onofre Gomes de Sousa and Prof. Dr. João Batista Teixeira da Rocha (UFSM). In 2013, he received a CAPES Postdoctoral Fellowship to work with the two mentors and was awarded the AGNES (African-German Network for Excellence in Science) grant for Junior Researchers in 2013, and the CAPES-Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers, in 2018. His current research interest includes the protective role of phytochemicals and plant extracts against oxidative damage in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster and the lobster cockroach, Nauphoeta cinerea.

Professor Veranja Karunaratne is an outstanding, internationally recognized leader in chemical sciences research, particularly organic synthesis, natural products Chemistry, biodiversity and taxonomy of lichens, industry relevant Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, where he has made significant and ground breaking contributions with a lasting impact.

Dr. Khan completed his PhD in 2017 from Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials Research, King Abdulaziz University Saudi Arabia in Nanotechnology and Nanocatalysis. He published 29 publications with cumulative impact factor of 78.0 and 4 book chapters with h-index of 11. Dr. Khan is the academic editor and associate editor of the two ongoing books. Currently, Dr. Khan is working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry, University of Swabi. He has successfully co-supervised 2 MPhil and 2 MSC Students. Currently, 02 MSC, 08 MPhil and 03 PhD students are working in Dr. Khan’s research group.

Dr. Vinay Kumar did his Ph.D. in Biotechnology from Savitribai Phule Pune University in 2009. He is a recipient of Young Scientist Award of Science and Engineering Board, Government of India. Currently, he is working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Biotechnology, Modern College, Ganeshkhind, Pune, India and is a Visiting Faculty at the Department of Environmental Sciences, Savitribai Phule University, Pune, India. His current research interests include natural products, antimicrobial resistance, and drug-resistance reversal via natural products and biofunctionalized nanomaterials. He has authored 40 peer-reviewed research/review articles and edited 4 books.

Professor Dehai Li received his bachelor degree from Shandong University in 2002, and obtained his PhD in 2007 from Ocean University of China where his research focused on marine natural products in Chemistry. After then, he carried out his postdoctoral research with Professor Raymond J Andersen from the University of British Columbia from 2007 to 2009. He joined School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China in 2009 as an associate professor. From 2014, he was promoted to be a full professor. During 2014-2015, he went to Professor Yi Tang’s lab of University of California, Los angles as a visiting scientist. His research interests are focused on the bioactive metabolites from marine derived microorganisms. In the past 15 years, over 5000 strains of marine-derived microorganisms have been obtained and over 800 new compounds have been discovered by his group. Until now, he has published over 130 papers and authorized 8 patents.

Dr. Mastinu completed his PhD in 2014 from the University of Cagliari. The main topic of his research was the cannabinoids and energetic metabolism. Dr. Mastinu has published more than 20 publications in indexed and international journals with h-index of 12. Dr. Mastinu is the principal investigator for several projects: “Characterization new bioactive cannabimimetic natural entities in mouse models” and “Phytocannabinoids characterization from Cannabis sativa”. Dr. Mastinu was the winner of the Otsuka 2017 Prize for Neuropsychopharmacological Research.

Dr. Moussa Ahmed is a medical microbiologist by profession from the Institute of Veterinary Sciences, University Ibn-Khaldoun, Tiaret, Algeria. He obtained his PhD degree from Mostaganem University Algeria. He has published more than 50 scientific publications. He is on the editorial board of many international medical and scientific journals. He is currently a Researcher at Pharmacognosy & Api-Phytotherapy Research laboratory Mostaganem University, Algeria.

Abdul Mujib, Ph.D, a DAAD fellow (Germany), now associated with Department of Botany, Hamdard University, New Delhi, India. His research interest includes in vitro (somatic) embryogenesis, gene expression; proteomics, in vitro mutagenesis and crop improvement; chromosomal/Cytogenetics and molecular analyses of variance, flow cytometric DNA analysis of plants/ regenerants; enhancement of secondary compounds /alkaloids using biotic, abiotic stress and other modern biotechnological approaches. His teaching areas are molecular genetics, cytogenetics and plant biotechnology. He has published around 110 articles which include four books, research papers and review articles of International repute with impact factors and book chapters. He has been reviewing research articles of about 45 international Journals and also in the editorial board member of 25 international Journals. Dr. Mujib has been the advisor/ supervisor of 15 Ph. D students.

Abdorreza Mohammadi Nafchi obtained Doctor of Philosophy in Food Engineering, Food Biopolymers from the School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang, Malaysia. His research interests focus on mathematical modelling and release kinetics of EO from bio-based packaging, biodegradable packaging, smart packaging, and active packaging, biopolymer structure-function properties, extraction of novel bio-based gums for coating and packaging application. He has won several awards such as Top 1% Reviewer in Agricultural Sciences, Publons Academy of Reviewers (2018), Best Research Award in Pharmaceutical Research, 3rd Loqman Medical Festival Islamic Azad University (2016) and many more. Besides, he has published more than 50 articles in several well-reputed international journals.

Prof. Dr. Mozaniel Santana de Oliveira graduated in Chemistry from the Federal University of Pará, Brazil. He obtained both a master's and Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from the same university. He has 13 years of professional experience. Since 2020, he has been a researcher for the Institutional Training Program - PCI, at the institution Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi. Dr. Oliveira has experience in engineering, food science and technology, pharmacology and drug discovery, medicinal chemistry, ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, methods of extraction of bioactive compounds, biotechnology of natural products, and allelopathy. Dr. Oliveira serves as a reviewer for fifty international scientific journals and is the academic editor of the journals Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Journal of Food Quality, Molecules, Open Chemistry, Future Integrative Medicine, Frontiers in Plant Science, and Frontiers in Pharmacology.

Dr. Abdel Omri obtained his PhD from Université de Montréal in 1996. He is currently a Full Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry with a cross appointment in the Department of Biology, the Biomolecular Sciences PhD Program, School of Rural and Northern Health PhD Program. Dr. Omri is also involved in the education of undergraduate and graduate students through the coordination of several calendar courses in biochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology and pharmaceutical technology. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed research articles over his career in various aspects of drug delivery and targeting in addition to several published book chapters and books (2). He has served on a number of editorial boards and granting agencies in Canada and abroad.

Jinyong Peng received his Master of Medical Science from Zhejiang University, and then received PhD from Second Military Medical University. He did post-doctoral degree from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics. Currently, he is working as the Dean of College of Pharmacy, Dalian Medical University. He is serving as an editorial member of the British Journal of Pharmacology, Archives of Toxicology, Pharmacological Research, etc.He has published many papers in Theranostics, Redox Biology, and Archives of Toxicology. He is a member of Chinese Pharmacological Society, and Chinese Chemical Society.

Dr. Poirot obtained a doctorate (Ph.D.) in chemical biology from the University of Toulouse (France). He is a first class research director at the INSERM and currently heads the team ‘Cholesterol metabolism and therapeutic innovations’ at the Cancer Research Center of Toulouse”. He is a co-founder of the biotech company Affichem, and he is an active member of the European Network on Oxysterol Research Dr. Poirot has authored more than 70 manuscripts and 20 patents.

QIU Minghua, Professor of phytochemistry. Major research interests include 1) structure, bioactivities and drug discovery from traditional medicinal plants, with emphasis on Cimicifuga, Momordica charantia, Ganoderma, Buxaceae; 2) sustainable utilization of plant resources and know-how of their industrialization, the research interests focus mainly on refined process techniques of Pyrethrins based on ultrasonic extraction; investigations of biodiesel plant resources; chemical studies on biodiesel plants and modifications of Huperzine A.

Claudio Santi received the PhD in Chemical Sciences from the University of Perugia under the supervision of Prof. Marcello Tiecco. Currently, he is a professor of Organic Chemistry and teaches the courses of Spectroscopy for Organic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry of Natural Compounds. He leads the group of Catalysis and Organic Green Chemistry in the department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and is a worldwide recognized expert in organoselenium chemistry. His research interest range from the application of selenium reagents in green chemistry to the development of new orgaselenium containing drugs. He is the author of more than 130 publications including review articles and book chapters.

Chang-Gue Son graduated from the Oriental Medical Collage of Daejeon University, South Korea. He finished the clinical training course for internal medicine specialist in Daejeon Oriental Hospital, and obtained his PhD degree in Daejeon University. He started his researches from his careers as a visiting scientist at histopathology laboratory of Chung-Buk National University, Korea since 1999, and studied oncology branch, NCI, NIH, USA as a post-doctoral fellow from 2002 to 2004. Currently, he is a professor at Oriental Medicine College, a director of Institute of Traditional Medicine and Science, and a director of Liver-Immunology Research Center at Daejeon University. He has focused his research on a broad range of herbal medicine in both laboratory and clinical studies.

Yana Maolana Syah received his Drs-degree in Chemistry (1988) from Padjadjaran University, Indonesia, while his Master degree (1991) from Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia. In 1998, he earned Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Western Australia, where he also spent a series of short postdoctoral researches during a period 1999-2008. Since 1992, he joined Chemistry Program, in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia, and from 2009 served as a Professor of Natural Products Chemistry in the Faculty. He has worked with many species of the families Dipterocarpaceae, Lauraceae and Meliaceae, as well as the genera Artocarpus (Moraceae) and Macaranga (Euphorbiaceae). His work interest covers isolation and structure elucidation, NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, bioactivity and chemical transformation of natural compounds.

Kira J. Weissman obtained her BS in Chemistry from Stanford University, California in 1995. Receipt of a Churchill Fellowship allowed her to relocate to the United Kingdom, where she carried out MPhil (1996), PhD (2000) and post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge. Following the nomination to a lectureship in the Department of Biochemistry, she moved in 2007 to the University of Saarland, Saarbrücken, Germany, as an Alexander Humboldt Research Fellow. Dr. Weissman is the Professor of Enzymology at Lorraine University, Nancy, France, since 2010. Her current research interests include the mechanistic enzymology and structural biology of modular polyketide synthase (PKS) systems. She is the author of over 70 primary publications, reviews, commentaries, book chapters and popular science articles.

Professor of Biology and Director at the Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology of Heidelberg University; Head of Biology Department. Editor of Diversity, Biotechnology Journal and Journal of Ornithology. Member of several editorial boards and scientific societies. Author of over 20 books and over 700 original peer-reviewed publications.

Ramazan Erenler is a full professor in the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Tokat Gaziosmanpasa University, Turkey, head of the Synthetic Organic Chemistry Laboratory and Plant Research Laboratory. He has completed his PhD in the field of Organic Chemistry from Tokat Gaziosmanpasa Universeti, Turkey and postdoctoral studies from Academia Sinica, Taiwan, and Kansas State University, USA in Synthetic Organic Chemistry. He has published many scientific articles in peer reviewed journals. He joined a number of international congresses and has published many conference proceedings. Dr. Erenler’s research focuses on the area of Plant Chemistry, isolation and identification of secondary metabolites from plants and investigation of their antioxidant and anticancer activities.

Doaa Ahmad Ghareeb received PhD, MSc and BSc in Biochemistry in 2007, 2003, 1998, respectively from the Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Egypt. Currently, she is a Full Professor of Biochemistry in the Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Egypt. She is also a Faculty Coordinator of Social services and environmental development domain. Besides, she is an Editorial Board Member of Pakistan Science Mission, a peer reviewer of the Editorial board of Neural Regeneration Research, Chemico-Biological Interactions, Merit research journal of medicine and medical sciences, Cardiology and Angiology: An International Journal, and Journal of Taibah University for Science. Dr. Ghareeb has published one book and more than 50 research papers in well-reputed journals.

Dr. Manish Kumar is an Assistant Professor in Botany at S.D. College, Barnala, Punjab, India. Dr. Kumar is M.Sc., M.Phil. and PhD in Botany from Guru Nanak Dev University and has qualified CSIR-NET and GATE. He has over 3 years of teaching and 9 years of research experience and his areas of specialization include Cancer Chemoprevention, Genetic Toxicology, Environmental mutagenesis and Medicinal plants. He has published more than 30 research articles in journals and books of international repute with a cumulative impact factor of more than 35. He has been in the editorial board and reviewer’s board of a number journals. He has been recognized for outstanding contribution in Reviewing for the Journal “Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine (Elsevier)” in 2017. He has been a member of various national and international conferences/programs. Recently, Dr. Kumar has edited book with Bentham Science Publishers.

Mohaddese Mahboubi is a team-oriented, creative, and technically-experienced Microbiologist. She holds a PhD in Microbiology from Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran. She has 16 years’ experience in pharmaceutical industries. Over these years, she has worked on many industrial projects that are related to the anti-infective effects of plant materials against bacteria and fungi in vitro and animal models. Also, she is working on cloning and expressing a bacterial gene in herbal medicine. She has published more than 100 articles and 4 books in various distinguished journals.

Dr Harisun bte Yaakob is currently working as a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Bioproduct Development (IBD), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). She received a Doctor of Philosophy in Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom. Her research activities include Heading and conducting scientific research of nutraceutical product development, delivery system, food processing, chemical analysis, and microbiology and cell culture. Due to her outstanding contribution, she received several awards and has published many articles in well-reputed journals.

Dr. Abdur Rauf, got PhD from the Institute of Chemical Sciences, University of Peshawar, KPK, Pakistan. His research interest mainly focused on medicinal chemistry and Pharmacology for the discovery of novel therapeutic formulations. The major goals of Dr. Rauf research area are to discover an eco-friendly and the implementation of a cost-effective drug for pharmaceutical industries. He published more than 200 scientific articles in reputed journals with >380 impact factor. He is also awarded Research Productivity Award (2016-17) from Pakistan Science Council for Science and Technology and young Scientist award from Directorate of Science and Technology (DoST) KP.