Hans Renata named to 2021 Natural Product Reports Emerging Investigator Lectureship

Renata, a chemist, recreates complex compounds found in nature, opening new possibilities for medicines and other valuable products.

May 05, 2021

JUPITER, FL—Scripps Research chemist Hans Renata, PhD, has been selected by the editorial board of high-impact scientific journal Natural Product Reports for its annual Emerging Investigator Lectureship. The role recognizes a researcher who has made a significant contribution to a natural products-related area of the chemical sciences in their early independent career.

Based on the Florida campus of Scripps Research, Renata devises efficient chemical techniques for recreating valuable compounds found in nature. His lab also studies how these compounds are naturally created, with the goal of harnessing the same enzymes and mechanisms to simplify the process of making them in the lab.

Through his work, Renata makes these complex compounds available for research and potentially for development into drugs or other products that enhance human wellbeing. Already, he’s successfully created compounds with anticancer, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.

“It’s such an honor to receive this recognition from Natural Product Reports,” says Renata, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry. “I’m thankful to my mentors and colleagues who have supported me over the years, as well as my lab members for their hard work and creativity that makes breakthroughs possible.”

Renata received his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 2008 and earned his doctorate from Scripps Research in 2013 under the guidance of chemist and professor Phil Baran, PhD. He returned to Scripps Research in 2016 after completing postdoctoral work in the lab of Frances Arnold, PhD, at the California Institute of Technology.

Among his early-career accomplishments, Renata and his collaborators in the Adibekian lab at Scripps Research recently discovered a way to create a synthetic version of a natural compound called cepafungin I, which has shown promise as a potential cancer therapy. The compound showed many similarities to FDA-approved chemotherapy bortezomib, while also having certain qualities that may translate into fewer unwanted side effects for patients.

“The natural world is brimming with complex chemicals that living things have developed as part of their survival mechanisms—and many of these chemicals hold important medicinal potential,” Renata says. “I see great promise in using chemistry to create synthetic versions of these compounds, which are often extremely rare in the natural world.” 

As recipient of the 2021 Natural Product Reports Emerging Investigator Lectureship, Renata is provided a cash prize and will present a lecture later this year. Natural Product Reports is a peer-reviewed journal that stimulates progress in all areas of natural products research, spanning bioinorganic, bioorganic and chemical biology communities.

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