Aaron Muth

Aaron Muth, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at St. John’s University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Central Florida (2012), an M.A. in Chemistry from the University of Virginia (2007), and a B.S. in Chemistry from Binghamton University (2006). Before joining St. John’s, he completed postdoctoral research at the University of Kansas and University of Massachusetts Medical School.

• Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Central Florida
• M.A., Chemistry, University of Virginia
• B.S., Chemistry, Binghamton University

Dr. Muth’s research and teaching focus on medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, biochemistry, and drug discovery, with a primary interest in targeting protein-protein interactions for cancer therapy. His work emphasizes developing small molecule inhibitors of gankyrin, a protein implicated in various cancers, and exploring polypharmacology to design multi-targeting molecules. He also investigates natural products like α-Mangostin for therapeutic applications.

His peer-reviewed publications and conference posters reflect trends in medicinal chemistry, including scaffold optimization (e.g., cjoc42 derivatives), gankyrin inhibition, and virtual screening for novel drug candidates. These works often address anti-cancer activity, structure-activity relationships, and biochemical pathway targeting.

Grants:

• NIH SC2 Grant (NIGMS, 2020)

Students and Research Group: Dr. Muth has mentored several graduate students, including Dipti (Ph.D. defense, 2022), Abbas (Ph.D. defense, 2022), Daniel (M.S. defense, 2020), Pamela (M.S. defense, 2019), and Tejashri (Comprehensive Exam, 2020). His lab has also welcomed technicians like Sammy and Minal, and collaborators such as Dr. Vivek Gupta and Dr. Donald Spratt.