Raymond Andersen

Raymond Andersen is a Professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of British Columbia, affiliated with the Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences and the Department of Chemistry. His research focuses on the isolation and structural elucidation of bioactive natural products from marine and terrestrial organisms, with applications in drug discovery and chemical ecology. He has contributed to breakthroughs in anticancer agents, antiviral compounds, and inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Education: B.Sc. (University of Alberta, 1969), M.Sc. (Berkeley University, 1970), Ph.D. (University of California San Diego, 1975), followed by postdoctoral training at MIT (1975-76). Awards include the Killam Research Prize (1987), Rutherford Medal in Chemistry (1988), and Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada.

Research interests span marine invertebrate-derived metabolites, phytoplankton toxins, and plant defensive compounds. His lab investigates antitumor agents, HIV latency reversal, and novel pharmacophores for cancer and infectious diseases. Recent work includes antiviral agents targeting SARS-CoV-2 and inhibitors of androgen receptor signaling in prostate cancer.

• Co-developed clionamine B, an autophagy-stimulating compound effective against latent tuberculosis.
• Identified sintokamides as androgen receptor antagonists for prostate cancer therapy.
• Advanced genome-mining techniques for discovering nonribosomal peptides.

Overseen numerous graduate students, including notable theses on natural product synthesis, SAR studies, and bioactivity screening. Active in collaborative drug discovery projects, with patents on androgen receptor modulators, SHIP1 activators, and antiviral agents.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Andersen Research Group at UBC, focusing on marine natural products and chemical genetics. Collaborates with the Pacific Museum of Earth and Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre for field studies.