Synthesis of Antileishmanial and antiChagas agents for drug prototypal development

• Grant number: 15/02820-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: August 01, 2015
• End date: June 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Organic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Roberto Gomes de Souza Berlinck
• Grantee: Siddavatam Nagendra
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química de São Carlos (IQSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The post-doctoral workplan aims at the development of the syntheses of naturally-derived and -modified organic compounds, based in scaffolds which have been recently discovered, presenting promising antileishmanial and antitrypanosomal activities. The synthesis of such anti-parasitic compounds aims to obtain actives and new derivatives to be further evaluated against Leishmania and T. cruzi parasites, both in vitro and in vivo. The applicant will be responsible to develop and to improve synthetic methods aiming to obtain optimized compounds as anti-parasitic agents. The applicant will also interact with medicinal chemists aiming to optimize structures, investigate pharmacophore(s) and establish structure X bioactivity relationships. Moreover, the applicant will participate in a multi-disciplinary and investigative program with international researchers at both USA and UK, in order to integrate his/her capabilities and knowledge on organic synthesis and medicinal chemistry.