David Zechel

David Zechel is a Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at Queen's University, within the Faculty of Arts and Science. His research focuses on enzyme mechanisms, natural product biosynthesis, and microbial biochemistry. He leads the Zechel Lab, which investigates enzymes and bioactive molecules from environmental sources for applications in bioremediation and drug discovery.

Education: Ph.D. in Chemistry and Enzymology (2001, University of British Columbia); B.Sc. in Chemistry and Biochemistry (1995, University of Toronto). He has held postdoctoral positions at York University (UK) and the University of Zürich, and has been at Queen's University since 2004.

Research Interests: Enzymatic degradation of organophosphonates; biosynthesis of natural products like nucleocidin and curacozole; roles of c-di-GMP in Streptomyces regulation; and enzyme engineering for biotechnological applications.

Publications: Over 50 peer-reviewed articles, including recent work on genome-mining for thermostable enzymes, RiPP biosynthesis, and phosphonate catabolism pathways.