Christian R. Zwick III, Ph.D.
Doctoral Thesis: I. Leveraging Iron and alpha-Ketoglutarate Dependent Amino Acid Hydroxylases for the Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Complex Alkaloid and Peptide Natural Products; II. Convergent Synthesis of Reidispongiolide A’s C23–C36 Tail Fragment
Undergraduate Institution: Illinois State University
Noteworthy Publications: Modular Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of GE81112 B1 and Related Analogues Enables Elucidation of Its Key Pharmacophore, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2021); Remote C–H Hydroxylation by an α-Ketoglutarate-Dependent Dioxygenase Enables Efficient Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Manzacidin C and Proline Analogs, Journal of the American Chemical Society (2018); Characterization of a Citrulline 4-Hydroxylase from Nonribosomal Peptide GE81112 B1 Biosynthesis and Engineering of Its Substrate Specificity for the Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Enduracididine, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2019); Evolution of Biocatalytic and Chemocatalytic C–H Functionalization Strategy in the Synthesis of Manzacidin C, Journal of Organic Chemistry (2018); A One-Pot Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of (2S,4R)-4-Methylproline Enables the First Total Synthesis of Antiviral Lipopeptide Cavinafungin B, Tetrahedron (2018); Harnessing the Biocatalytic Potential of Iron and alpha-Ketoglutarate Dependent Dioxygenases in Natural Product Total Synthesis, Natural Product Reports (2020)
Honors & Awards: The Scripps Research Institute Dean’s Fellowship (2015-16); Richard & Helen DeVos Graduate Fellowship (2015-16); Farris Foundation Graduate Student Fellowship (2018-19)
Favorite Aspects of Graduate Studies: "My favorite aspect was the opportunity to befriend, get to know and learn from so many talented scientists from all across the globe, not only on the Florida campus, but also from my bicoastal friends in La Jolla."
Next Steps: "I now work at AbbVie in North Chicago. I'm a process chemist in the Center of Catalysis at AbbVie, where I help develop traditional and biocatalytic reactions. In time, I hope to manage my own group in process chemistry."
Be sure to join us at 10 a.m. PDT on Friday, May 21 for our Virtual Commencement Ceremony! Zwick's advisor and mentor, Prof. Hans Renata, will deliver a few words about his graduate experience (as will Zwick), and viewers can learn about our 41 other 2021 graduates, who are now setting out to build careers that will impact the future of biomedical research.
