Associate Professor Wayne Harding in the Department of Chemistry teaches courses and conducts research in organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry.
See Contact DetailsDr. Wayne W. Harding received his BS and his PhD from the University of the West Indies. He did his postdoc at the University of Iowa. At Hunter College he teaches courses in organic and medicinal chemistry. His research focuses on identifying new ligands for central nervous system (CNS) receptors that will be useful as biological probes and as leads for therapeutic applications.
Research Focus
Research Statement
Our research projects seek to identify new ligands for central nervous system (CNS) receptors that will be useful as biological probes and as leads for therapeutic applications. We utilize tools, techniques and approaches in organic synthesis, medicinal chemistry and natural products chemistry in pursuit of our research objectives. Synthesis and Evaluation of CNS Receptor Ligands: Selective ligands are needed to function as chemical probes in order to obtain a clearer picture of the role that various CNS receptors play in neuropsychiatric disorders and drug abuse. Furthermore, given the complex etiology of CNS disorders, compounds that target more than one receptor are useful leads for therapeutic development.
Our group is actively engaged in projects aimed at identifying and developing novel molecules as useful CNS receptor ligands and their evaluation as potential therapeutics. We employ a range of techniques including organic synthesis, in silico design strategies and structure-activity relationship studies for iterative ligand optimization. Psychoactive Natural Products: We are also investigating plants or plant products that are reputed to possess psychoactive properties. Through traditional natural products isolation and spectroscopic identification techniques as well as collaborative in vitro and in vivo biological evaluations, our goal is to isolate and chemically and pharmacologically characterize novel psychoactive natural products. These molecules and their semi-synthetic derivatives will be useful as receptor-selective pharmacological probes or as potential lead compounds for future drug development.
