Webster Santos

My major field of interest is in organic synthesis and its application in chemical biology and medicinal chemistry. My research focuses on the development of synthetic methods to install boron, silicon, and phosphorus in molecules to afford novel, inaccessible organic compounds.

My team develops novel drugs for the treatment of various diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, multiple sclerosis, and chronic kidney disease. In particular, we are making drugs to target the mitochondria, sphingosine kinase, and sphingosine-1-phosphate transporters.

Prior to Virginia Tech, I received my bachelors and doctoral in synthetic and medicinal chemistry at the University of Virginia. Following a National Health Institutes postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University to study the chemical biology of targeting RNA structures and HIV-1 integrase, I started my academic career at Virginia Tech in 2006 as an assistant professor. In 2018, I was promoted to full professor as the A.C. Lilly Faculty Fellow of Drug Discovery.