Dr. Raymond Andersen

Biography

Raymond Andersen is a Professor at the University of British Columbia, where his research focuses on the isolation and structure elucidation of novel organic metabolites produced by terrestrial and marine organisms. His group engages in biosynthetic studies involving new metabolites that meet specific criteria: theoretical interest due to their novelty in biogenesis, biological activity that implies potential pharmaceutical applications, and biological activities that allow the metabolites to play central roles in the biology of the producing organisms, such as in chemical ecology. Current projects aim to explore marine organisms as a vast reservoir of biologically active secondary metabolites that could lead to the development of new anti-cancer drugs. The research involves collecting marine invertebrates and bacteria from various ocean habitats and screening extracts for cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines. Bioassay guided fractionation is employed to isolate pure active constituents, and the structures of new metabolites are elucidated primarily through spectroscopic analysis, particularly utilizing multipulse 1D and 2D NMR experiments. Additionally, Andersen investigates the chemical structures of toxins and antifeedants produced by phytoplankton, as well as the chemical defenses of selected plant species in Africa and the Arctic. His work extends to studying the defensive metabolites found in nudibranchs.

Research Interests

Awards