Queen’s University chemist earns accolades

Queen’s University researcher P. Andrew Evans, Canada Research Chair in Organic and Organometallic Chemistry, is the first researcher from a Canadian university to be honoured with the Harry and Carol Mosher Award. Established in 1980 by the American Chemical Society (ACS), the award recognizes outstanding work in chemistry, advancing chemistry as a profession, and recognizing service to ACS.

The underlying theme of Dr. Evans’ work is the development of new tools to expedite the construction of complex bioactive natural products. Success in doing so will provide new leads for drug development, including drugs designed to treat cancer.

“I am very honored and touched to be included in such a prestigious group of past recipients, which reflects the work of my very talented research group over many year,” says Dr. Evans (Chemistry).

Dr. Evans explains natural products? provide important tools for chemical genetics, which facilitate the understanding of the role of a specific protein. He has successfully developed several practical, economical, and green methodologies that expedite the preparation of new chemical entities relevant to agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and materials.

Examples of his work include discovering that a natural product toxin found in marine sponges living in the ocean can be used for the treatment of metastatic cancers (Queen’s Gazette) and discovering a new way to deliver light sensitive drugs using pollen that could combat the problem of antibiotic resistance (Queen’s Gazette).

The Mosher award is the latest accolade for Dr. Evans who earned the 2017 Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award by the American Chemical Society (ACS) in recognition of his contributions to the field of organic chemistry.

Read more about the award here.