Kirk Manfredi

Kirk Manfredi serves as Professor of Organic Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at the University of Northern Iowa's College of Humanities Arts and Sciences, conducting research from his laboratory in 218 McCollum Science Hall.

With over 15 years of research experience, Dr. Manfredi specializes in natural products isolation and structure elucidation, particularly focusing on native prairie plants with ethnobotanical significance. His work includes extensive collaboration with Dr. Kelly Kindscher of the Kansas Biological Survey, identifying over 75 medicinal plant species used by Native Americans of the Missouri River region. Current investigations examine antimicrobial compounds produced by fungi grown on varied carbon substrates, alongside developing botanical preservatives for personal care products. His research integrates phytochemical analysis with bioassays against human tumor cell lines and HIV.

Publication analysis reveals consistent contributions to natural products chemistry, with emphasis on bioactive alkaloids from Ancistrocladus species (notably anti-HIV michellamines) and prairie plant compounds exhibiting anticancer and antimicrobial properties. His work bridges ethnobotanical knowledge with modern pharmacological screening techniques across diverse plant families.

No scientific awards were documented in the provided materials.

Dr. Manfredi maintains active research collaborations including the Kansas Biological Survey and multiple bioassay laboratories, though specific grant details remain unreported. His chemical education contribution includes a microscale organic chemistry experiment for stable cation preparation, demonstrating commitment to pedagogical innovation alongside research.

His research program operates through collaborative networks focused on ethnobotanically guided drug discovery, with recent expansion into fungal metabolite analysis requiring specialized cultivation and metabolic profiling techniques.