Born: November 2, 1950

Degrees: Ph.D. in Chemistry of Natural Products, University of Copenhagen, 1980 (with Martin G. Ettlinger); M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, 1976

Professional affiliations:

• Fellow of the Danish Natural Science Research Council 1977-1979
• Assistant Professor at the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy from 1980
• Associate Professor at the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy from 1982
• Research Associate Professor at the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy 1985-1988
• Visiting Associate at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA, 1988-1990 (Jack S. Cohen's lab, biological NMR)
• Alfred Benzon Senior Research Fellow 1989-1990
• Visiting Professor at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington D.C., USA, autumn 1990, autumn 1991, summer 1993, winter 1994
• Senior Research Fellow at the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy 1995-1997
• Full Professor at The Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences (now Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Copenhagen) from 1997

Major theme of the research work is structure and biological activity of natural products,   intimately connected to new developments and applications of NMR spectroscopy. 

Early work (1980's) concerned biomimetic chemistry related to plant dioxygenase enzymes, and structures, function  and reactions of natural cyanohydrin glycosides in relation to enzyme specificity shift as to include non-proteinogenic amino acid precursors that took place in the plant family Flacourtiaceae. Subsequent studies were on gossypol, a polyphenol from cottonseed that displays male antifertility action. These studies embraced in vitro studies of cellular energy metabolism by NMR spectroscopy using immobilized cell cultures. As NMR spectroscopy started to play an increasingly important role in solving research problems, and following stays at the National Institutes of Health and Georgetown University Medical School, a number of projects related to application of antisense DNA technology have been performed.

During 1990’s, a collaborative project on neuroactive polyamine wasp toxin analogues has been initiated, resulting is discovery of a number of analogues with superior properties, as well as development of improved synthetic methodologies for this kind of natural products. These has been paralleled by studies of antiplasmodial and other pharmacologically active natural products, which led, inter alia, to the discovery of erythrocyte membrane effects by some natural products that prevent parasite invasion. 

During the last 8-9 years, emphasis was laid on hyphenated NMR methods for rapid extract dereplication, NMR-based metabolomics for sample classification and natural products discovery, and pure natural product libraries.  

Current project areas:

NMR hyphenation and natural product libraries

The fungal plasma membrane H⁺-ATPase as an ideal antifungal drug target

Metabolomics

Download full list of publications here.

Author of about 200 articles in peer-reviewed international journals, reviews, book chapters; leadership of the NMR facility at the Faculty (400 MHz multinuclear spectrometer since 1990, 600 MHz hyphenated NMR system since 2004, upgraded with automation and cryogenic probe in 2010); five years of experience as Head of Department; seven years of experience as member University Board; co-editor of Planta Medica, An International Journal of Medicinal Plants Research, since 2007; Member of Editorial Advisory Board of several journals; intensive peer-reviewing activity; member of the expert group on natural products of European Food Safety Authority; consultant for several enterprises in Denmark and abroad; over 100 invited symposia presentation

Extensive experience with lectures, examinations, and development of curricula since 1980's. New curricula for chemistry of natural products, bioorganic chemistry, and elective subject Advanced Spectroscopy. Formulation of a PhD course NMR techniques in drug research. Supervisor for over 30 PhD students and over 50 MSc project students.