Armen Zakarian

Armen Zakarian is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). His research focuses on synthetic organic chemistry, targeting complex natural products and their derivatives to probe biological interactions in aging and longevity. He develops scalable synthetic strategies for molecules regulating mitochondrial metabolism and calcium signaling, with applications in drug discovery.

Education and Career: Zakarian earned his PhD at the University of Florida under Prof. Rod Holton, focusing on brevetoxin synthesis. Postdoctoral work at UC Irvine with Prof. Matt Overman explored ouabain and guanacastepene syntheses. He joined UCSB’s Chemistry Department in 2008. Awards include the Eli Lilly Grantee Award, Amgen Young Investigator Award, and NSF CAREER Award.

Research Interests: Synthetic methodology innovations, total synthesis of natural products, and their application to medicinal chemistry. Key projects address cell senescence and aging mechanisms through molecular probes.

Publications Trends: Over 50 publications since 2003 highlight enantioselective synthesis, natural product total syntheses (e.g., goniomitine, anatoxin), and mechanistic studies of organolithium reactions. Recent work emphasizes mitochondrial function inhibitors and IP3 receptor modulators.

Grants and Labs: Directs the Zakarian Lab, actively training students in synthetic and medicinal chemistry. Supervises a dynamic group of PhD and undergraduate researchers, with alumni in academia and industry.