Paul Anthony Wender

Research involves chemistry, biology, and medicine with an emphasis on the synthesis and evaluation of structurally novel molecules with unique, clinically significant biological activities. He introduced several new synthetic reactions including the arene-alkene photocycloaddition and metalcatalyzed [5 + 2] cycloadditions. He has produced syntheses of taxol (cancer therapeutic), phorbol esters (biological probes), and over thirty other targets. He proposed first structural hypothesis for the design of PKC activators. He has several clinical leads, most recently based on the marine natural product bryostatin. Along with Jonathan Rothbard, he developed new classes of compounds that enable cellular uptake of a wide range of agents.