Affiliation: University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Dr. Vijay K. Boda completed his PhD in 2019 at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. His area of research was total synthesis of natural products and the development of novel synthetic methodologies. Thereafter, he worked for a couple of years at Syngene International, a CRO company, as a research investigator and received extensive training in drug discovery. In 2021, he joined Dr. Li’s lab at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center as a postdoctoral research associate and has been working on developing novel drugs to treat neurodegenerative disorders. Perturbances in the calcium homeostasis in the body have been linked to various pathophysiological conditions including CNS disorders, and cardiovascular and immunity-related disorders. Calcium ion channel blockers have become critical as they are proven to improve these diseases significantly in animal models. He is currently designing and synthesizing numerous small molecules that can potentially cure CNS disorders by modulating the calcium ion channels, especially TRP (Transient Receptor Potential) family of ion channels. He harnesses his knowledge and experience in the total synthesis of natural products as well as the development of novel synthetic methods for designing and synthesizing intriguing structural motifs with improved drug-likeness. He believes that synthetic organic chemistry is a frontier that strengthens the power of drug discovery.