The Charkoudian Lab

Organic Biological Chemistry at Haverford College

We study how nature makes molecules that play important roles in our lives (such as antibiotics, anti-cancer agents, and biofuels). Our work examines the evolution of biosynthetic gene clusters and explores how the encoded proteins collaborate to assemble structurally complex, bioactive molecules.

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Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Our team is dedicated to creating and maintaining a diverse, inclusive, and accessible training environment within our laboratory, department, and the Haverford College Community. Our co-created commitment on diversity and inclusion can be found here.

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Thank You To Our Sources of Funding!

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Recent Publications

• An updated catalogue of diverse type II polyketide synthase biosynthetic gene clusters captured from large-scale nucleotide databases
  March 23, 2023
• Frequency Changes in Terminal Alkynes Provide Strong, Sensitive, and Solvatochromic Raman Probes of Biochemical Environments
  December 20, 2022
• ActinoBase: tools and protocols for researchers working on <em>Streptomyces</em> and other filamentous actinobacteria
  July 1, 2022
• Heterologous Expression, Purification, and Characterization of Type II Polyketide Synthase Acyl Carrier Proteins
  May 6, 2022
• The Cytochrome P450 OxyA from the Kistamicin Biosynthesis Cyclization Cascade is Highly Sensitive to Oxidative Damage
  April 25, 2022
• Engineered Chimeras Unveil Swappable Modular Features of Fatty Acid and Polyketide Synthase Acyl Carrier Proteins
  January 24, 2022
• Probing the structure and function of acyl carrier proteins to unlock the strategic redesign of type II polyketide biosynthetic pathways
  January 25, 2021