Ryszard Ostaszewski

Prof. Ryszard Ostaszewski is a faculty member at the Institute of Organic Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, leading a research group focused on enzyme catalysis, medicinal chemistry, and sustainable organic synthesis. His work addresses the synthesis of chiral hybrids of quinones and quinols with dual anticancer and antimicrobial activity, as well as palladium/copper-catalyzed reactions.

• Specializations: Enzyme promiscuity, multicomponent reactions, antimicrobial agents, chiral compound design.
• Collaborators: Assoc. Prof. Dominik Koszelewski, Dr. Anna Brodzka, and PhD student Deepak Wavhal.

Research Trends: Recent publications highlight antimicrobial peptidomimetics (2025), copper-catalyzed para-quinol synthesis (2023), and chemoenzymatic cascades (2022). His work integrates enzyme catalysis with traditional catalytic methods to develop compounds targeting ESKAPE bacteria and E. coli strains, emphasizing drug resistance and oxidative stress modulation.

Grant Support: Currently leads the NCN OPUS grant 2023/49/B/NZ7/02469, focusing on dual-activity agents against drug-resistant pathogens in cancer therapy.

Teaching & Mentorship: Supervises PhD students Deepak Wavhal, Cezary Gulko, and Łukasz Kurowski, fostering interdisciplinary approaches in biocatalysis and medicinal chemistry.