A. Douglas Kinghorn, previously professor of pharmacognosy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has been named the first Jack L. Beal Chair in natural products chemistry and pharmacognosy at the College of Pharmacy of The Ohio State University. The appointment became effective May 1, 2004.

At the University of Illinois, he also was assistant head of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy and associate director of the Program for Collaborative Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Kinghorn is an internationally renowned scholar in the area of natural products and molecular biodiversity in drug discovery. His research focuses on the isolation, characterization and biological evaluation of natural products of higher plant origin.

OSU executive vice president and provost Barbara Snyder said Kinghorn is a well-respected scholar and will be an asset to Ohio State.

“Professor Kinghorn is an internationally renowned expert in his field,” Snyder said. “He will be instrumental in helping the College of Pharmacy achieve goals of the university’s Academic Plan and Leadership Agenda. His experience in forming interdisciplinary collaborations also will serve the college well.”

At Ohio State, he will continue working as a principal investigator on a project funded by a National Cancer Institute grant that is directed toward the discovery of new plant-derived anticancer agents. He also is the leader of a project that focuses on the isolation and biological evaluation of novel natural product cancer chemopreventive agents.

Robert Brueggemeier, dean of the College of Pharmacy, said Kinghorn will enhance the college’s drug discovery and development program.

“Professor Kinghorn is an eminent scholar in the area of natural products and drug discovery,” Brueggemeier said. “Our strong academic programs in both professional and graduate education, our excellent research and scholarship and facilities for drug discovery are some of the reasons that we were able to recruit him.”

In addition, Brueggemeier said opportunities for Kinghorn to form interdisciplinary collaborations with the experimental therapeutics and cancer prevention programs in the OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center were instrumental in his recruitment.

Kinghorn serves as senior editor for the Journal of Natural Products, which is published jointly by the American Chemical Society and the American Society of Pharmacognosy, and on the editorial advisory boards for a dozen other scientific journals. In the past, he was president of the American Society for Pharmacognosy and the Society for Economic Botany, and has served as a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, and as a visiting professor at the University of Salerno, Italy, and the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Kinghorn earned his bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Bradford, a master’s degree in forensic science from the University of Strathclyde, and a Ph.D. and D.Sc. from the School of Pharmacy at the University of London.

Kinghorn is a fellow of the Linnean Society of London, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. He was designated as the 1993 B. Kenneth West University Scholar of the University of Illinois and was awarded the 2002-2003 UIC Award for Excellence in Teaching, the premier peer-reviewed campus teaching award for faculty members.

Kinghorn has written or co-written approximately 350 articles, book chapters, and reviews, and has edited or co-edited four books.

The Jack L. Beal Chair of Natural Products Chemistry and Pharmacognosy is an endowed chair position designated for a senior faculty member in natural products and drug discovery. It was established to honor Beal, professor emeritus and associate dean of the College of Pharmacy.

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