Prof. Dr. Sarah O'Connor
- Section Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
- Location Jena, Germany
- Election year 2024
Research
Research Priorities: Biosynthesis, plant natural products, enzymology, metabolic engineering techniques
Sarah E. O’Connor is an American chemist. She develops methods and resources to discover the enzymatic basis for the biosynthesis of complex small molecules produced by plants. Sarah E. O’Connor has discovered the biosynthetic pathways of numerous molecules, including vinblastine and strychnine, elucidated the mechanism that underlies these enzymatic transformations, and developed innovative metabolic engineering strategies to produce these compounds.
Plants have developed special enzymes and synthetic pathways to produce organic compounds with which they can defend themselves against predators and parasites. These natural plant products are of major ecological, evolutionary, and pharmaceutical importance. Many of these natural products are used as medicines; however, it is often not possible to reproduce them using conventional chemical methods. Sarah E. O’Connor has made a major contribution to research into metabolism of plant and natural products. She has led the establishment and development of sequencing resources for medicinal plants and has pioneered the development of new approaches in the area of plant metabolism.
Sarah E. O’Connor has studied, for example, biosynthetic pathways in plants using newly discovered gene functions, enzymatic mechanisms of action, as well as molecular-genetic and genomic methods. This enabled her to discover the synthesis of complex natural products, such as cancer-inhibiting or neuroactive substances. Her research focuses on alkaloids and iridoids in particular. Sarah E. O’Connor’s working group managed, for example, to fully elucidate the biosynthetic pathway of many complex alkaloids.
The scientist also used the insights gained to produce novel compounds in plants. By establishing and developing biological platforms she makes it possible, for example, to cheaply and quickly produce natural products and gain synthetic access to new classes of molecules. Many of these substances have beneficial medicinal effects and are therefore used in both traditional and modern medicine, in areas ranging from cosmetics to cancer therapy.
Sarah E. O’Connor is an American chemist. She develops methods and resources to discover the enzymatic basis for the biosynthesis of complex small molecules produced by plants. Sarah E. O’Connor has discovered the biosynthetic pathways of numerous molecules, including vinblastine and strychnine, elucidated the mechanism that underlies these enzymatic transformations, and developed innovative metabolic engineering strategies to produce these compounds.
Plants have developed special enzymes and synthetic pathways to produce organic compounds with which they can defend themselves against predators and parasites. These natural plant products are of major ecological, evolutionary, and pharmaceutical importance. Many of these natural products are used as medicines; however, it is often not possible to reproduce them using conventional chemical methods. Sarah E. O’Connor has made a major contribution to research into metabolism of plant and natural products. She has led the establishment and development of sequencing resources for medicinal plants and has pioneered the development of new approaches in the area of plant metabolism.
Sarah E. O’Connor has studied, for example, biosynthetic pathways in plants using newly discovered gene functions, enzymatic mechanisms of action, as well as molecular-genetic and genomic methods. This enabled her to discover the synthesis of complex natural products, such as cancer-inhibiting or neuroactive substances. Her research focuses on alkaloids and iridoids in particular. Sarah E. O’Connor’s working group managed, for example, to fully elucidate the biosynthetic pathway of many complex alkaloids.
The scientist also used the insights gained to produce novel compounds in plants. By establishing and developing biological platforms she makes it possible, for example, to cheaply and quickly produce natural products and gain synthetic access to new classes of molecules. Many of these substances have beneficial medicinal effects and are therefore used in both traditional and modern medicine, in areas ranging from cosmetics to cancer therapy.
Career
- since 2022 Honorary Professor of Chemistry, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany
- since 2019 Director, Department of Natural Product Biosynthesis, Max Planck Institute of Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
- 2011-2019 Project Leader, John Innes Centre, Department of Biological Chemistry, Norwich, UK
- 2015-2019 Honorary Professor of Chemistry, University of East Anglia, School of Chemistry, Norwich, UK
- 2012-2014 Professor, University of East Anglia, School of Chemistry, Norwich, UK
- 2011-2012 Lecturer, University of East Anglia, School of Chemistry, Norwich, UK
- 2007-2011 Associate Professor of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA
- 2003-2007 Assistant Professor of Chemistry, MIT, Cambridge, USA
- 2000-2003 Postdoctoral Fellow in Biochemistry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
- 2001 Ph.D. in Chemistry, MIT, Cambridge, USA
- 1995-2000 Doctoral Studies in Chemistry, MIT, Cambridge, USA
- 1991-1995 Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, University of Chicago, Chicago, USA
Functions
- since 2022 Associate Editor, Journal of Biological Chemistry
Projects
- 2017 Principal Investigator, Advanced Grant “Harnessing the Molecules of Medicinal Plants”, European Research Council (ERC)
Honours and Memberships
- since 2024 Member, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Germany
- 2024 Prelog Medal, Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- 2023 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Award, German Research Foundation (DFG), Germany
- 2023 Elected Fellow, Royal Society, UK
- 2023 Elected Fellow, American Society of Pharmacognosy, USA
- 2022 ACS Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products, American Chemical Society (ACS), USA
- 2019 RSC Perkin Prize for Organic Chemistry, Royal Society of Chemistry, UK
- 2017 Member, European Molecular Biology Organization, Heidelberg, Germany
- 2013 Wain Medal, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
- 2007 Arthur Neisch Young Investigator Award, Phytochemical Society of North America, USA
- 2007-2009 Sloan Research Fellowship, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, New York City, USA
- 2007-2010 Research Scholar Grant, American Cancer Society, USA
- 2005-2008 Beckman Young Investigator, Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, Irvine, USA
- 2004 Innovation Fund, 3M, Saint Paul, USA
- 2003-2005 New Investigator, Smith Family Foundation, Trenton, USA
- 2003 Amgen New Faculty Award, Amgen, Thousand Oaks, USA
- 2000-2002 Irving S. Sigal Postdoctoral Fellowship, American Chemical Society, USA
- 1998-1999 Graduate Fellowship, American Chemical Society Organic Division, USA
- 1998 Distinguished Graduate Student Everhart Lecture Series, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
- 1995-1996 Institute Graduate Fellowship, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA