Dr. H. Liva Rakotondraibe, Assistant Professor, Divisions of Pharmacy Practice and Science and Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacogosy, College of Pharmacy, The Ohio State University (OSU)
Recipient, NIH “Diversity Supplement” Award (2017-2019)
Dr. Rakotondraibe has performed natural product research for over 20 years in Madagascar, Japan, and the United States. From 2009-2013, he was involved in a multi-institutional, multidisciplinary International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG) project at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, which focused on the search for bioactive (antiproliferative and antimalarial) metabolites from the flora, marine microbes and animals and the soil of Madagascar. As a relatively new faculty member at OSU, Dr. Rakotondraibe has collaborated with other members of this program project, with a specific focus on the discovery of new antiproliferative compounds from U.S. lichens and their mycobionts. Several collections of lichens for this project have been undertaken in California and Virginia. The collections are taxonomically identified, authenticated, and processed for isolation of mycobionts and the preparation of extracts. Lichen mycobionts found active are cultured and optimized to produce sufficient quantities of bioactive compounds for further biological evaluation, including mechanistic studies. In addition, secondary metabolites from the lichens themselves are also investigated.