Derek is an Ottawa native - born and raised. He attended Colonel By Secondary School and then Carleton University, from which he graduated with Highest Honours in Chemistry in 1999. A life-changing experience as an undergraduate researcher with Dr. Keith Ingold motivated Derek to pursue scientific research as a career. Supported by NSERC, he attended Vanderbilt University for his Ph.D. studies under the supervision of Professor Ned Porter. He then carried out post-doctoral research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with Professor Wilfred van der Donk, where he was supported by a Jane Coffin Childs Fellowship. Excited to return to Canada, Derek began his independent career in 2005 at Queen's University as Canada Research Chair in Free Radical Chemistry, which he renewed following his recruitment to the University of Ottawa in 2010. He was promoted to Full Professor in 2016 and became University Research Chair in Free Radical Chemistry in 2021. Derek is passionate about family, science, food, wine and music.

Abridged Curriculum Vitae

 

 

Professional Experience

 

2016-                  Full Professor, University of Ottawa

2014-2017          Director of Graduate Studies in Chemistry, University of Ottawa

2010-2016          Associate Professor, University of Ottawa

2005-2010          Assistant Professor, Queen’s University
 

Honours & Awards

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2021-                   University Research Chair in Free Radical Chemistry

2019-2020           Excellence in Research Award, Faculty of Science, uOttawa

2018                    Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

2016                    NSERC Discovery Accelerator Award

2015                    Canadian Society for Chemistry Keith Fagnou Award

2011-2016           Canada Research Chair in Free Radical Chemistry

2007                    Polanyi Prize in Chemistry

2006                    Early Researcher Award, Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation

2006                    Thieme-Verlag Journal Award

2005-2010           Canada Research Chair in Free Radical Chemistry

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Upcoming Lectures

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2nd Cold Spring Harbor Asia Conf. on Iron, ROS and Ferroptosis, Awaji, Japan (October 10-14, 2022)

29th Intl. Symposium on the Organic Chemistry of Sulfur, Guelph, ON (July 17-22, 2022)

GRC on Thiol-Based Redox Regulation and Signaling, Castelldefels, Spain (July 10-15, 2022)

105th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition, Calgary, AB (June 13-17, 2022)

10th Pacific Symposium on Radical Chemistry, Kyoto, Japan (postponed, TBA)

GRC on Oxygen Radicals, Ventura, CA (postponed, TBA)

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Recent Lectures

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Stanford University (2022)

Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology (2022)

Pacifichem; Symposium on New Organusulfur Chemistry, Honolulu, HI (2021)

Arizona State University, BioDesign Institute, Tempe, AZ (2020)

University of Zurich, Switzerland (2019) 

5th Swiss Chemical Society - Syngenta Symposium, Stein, Switzerland (Plenary, 2019) 

BASF Corp., Tarrytown, NY (2019)

University of Alberta (Ayer Lecture, 2019)

9th Pacific Symposium on Radical Chemistry, Pacific Grove, CA (2019)

University of Giessen, Germany (Liebig College Lectures, 2019)

Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany (2019) 

University of Bonn, Germany (2019)

University of Padova, Italy (2019)

University of Regensburg, Germany (2019)

Technical University of Munich, Germany (2019)

Infineum Co., Milton Hill, UK (2019)

University of Manchester, UK (2019)

University of Kiel, Germany (2019)

WE Heraeus Seminar on Physical Organic Chemistry, Bad Honnef, Germany (2019)

University of Munich, Germany (2019)

University of Munster, Germany (2019)

Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2018)

CSH Asia Conf. on Iron, ROS, and Ferroptosis in Life, Death & Disease, Suzhou, China (2018)

EuCHeMS Conference on Organic Free Radicals, Marseille, France (Plenary, 2018)

BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany (2018)

University of Giessen, Germany (2018)

2nd Intl. Symposium on Lipid Oxidation and Antioxidants, Graz, Austria (Keynote, 2018)

Graz University of Technology, Austria (2018)

Columbia University (Novartis Lecture, 2017)

University of North Carolina (2017)

University of Toronto (2017)

RACI National Centenary Conference, Melbourne, Australia (Keynote, 2017)

8th Pacific Symposium on Radical Chemistry, Brisbane, Australia (2017)

100th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition, Toronto, ON (2017)

BASF Corp., Tarrytown, NY (2017)

Politecnico di Milano, Italy (2017)

University of California at Santa Barbara (2017)

University of California at Los Angeles (2017)

University of California at Irvine (2017)

Nipissing University, North Bay, ON (2016)

12th International Symposium on Organic Free Radicals, Shanghai, China (2016)

36th Reaction Mechanisms Conference, St. Louis, MO (2016)

Infineum Co., Linden, NJ (2016)

99th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition, Halifax, NS (2016)

BASF Corp., Tarrytown, NY (2016)

University of Bologna, Italy (2016)

University of Paris 6 - Pierre and Marie Curie, France (2016)

Ecole Polytechnique - Paris-Saclay, France (2016)

University of Münster, Germany (2016)

Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany (2016) 

University of British Columbia - Okanagan (2016)

University of Calgary (2016)

Pacifichem - Bioorganic Reaction Mechanisms Symposium, Honolulu, HI (2015)

Pacifichem - New Organosulfur Chemistry Symposium, Honolulu, HI (2015)

Pacifichem - Reactive Intermediates & Unusual Molecules Symposium, Honolulu, HI (2015)

University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute (2015)

University of Quebec at Montreal (2015)

7th Pacific Symposium on Radical Chemistry, Singapore (2015)

University of Oxford, UK (2015)

Infineum Co., Milton Hill, UK (2015)

98th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition, Ottawa (2015)

Exxon-Mobil Corp., Clinton, NJ (2015)

Infineum USA, Linden, NJ (2015)

BASF Corp., Tarrytown, NY (2015)

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (2015)

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