Dr. Kerwin is an Associate Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry at Texas State University. After earning his baccalaureate degree in Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame in 1984, he joined the laboratory of Professor Clayton Heathcock at the University of California, Berkeley for his PhD studies. His doctoral work which included studies directed towards the total synthesis of quassinoid natural products, including applications of remote C-H bond activation. After receiving his PhD in Chemistry in 1989, Dr. Kerwin carried out post-doctoral training in Pharmaceutical Chemistry with Professor George Kenyon at the University of California, San Francisco. During this time, Dr. Kerwin applied computational tools developed by Professor Irwin Kuntz at UCSF (DOCK) to design sequence-selective ligands for double-stranded DNA. Upon completing his postdoctoral training, Dr. Kerwin joined the faculty of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was named G. D. Searle Fellow. In 2015, Dr. Kerwin joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry of Texas State University as an Associate Professor.
Research Description
Dr Kerwin’s current research interests include the design of new diradical- and carbene-generating cyclizations with applications to both synthesis and biology. These cyclizations are being employed in the rapid construction of natural product scaffolds through domino reactions as well as covalent targeting of biological macromolecules. Currently, this project is focused on studying the chemistry of the relatively unexplored N-alkynylazoles, including 1,x-dialkynylazoles that can undergo aza-Bergman rearrangement. Another current research interest focuses on the synthesis of study of natural products with an emphasis on understanding the structural basis for the biological activity of these compounds.
In addition, a continuing area of interest involves designing small-molecules that interact selectively with DNA, focusing on four-stranded G-quadruplex DNA ligands with potential application as molecular probes and inhibitors of enzymes that process these unusual DNA structures.In addition to serving as Editor-in-Chief of Reports in Organic Chemistry, Dr. Kerwin serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief or as an Editorial Board member of three other journals.