International Scientific Advisory Committee (ISAC) member profile

Richard K. Haynes

Is currently professor of chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. After graduating with First Class Honours, and being awarded the CSR Chemicals Prize, he received his PhD from the University of Western Australia, then worked firstly as Gillette International Fellow at University of Karlsruhe, Germany and then at Imperial College, London, with Prof. Sir Derek Barton, before returning to Australia. After receiving a readership at the University of Sydney, he moved to Hong Kong at the beginning of 1993. Interest in artemisinin antimalarials began with visits to China sponsored by the Australian Academy of Science-¬Chinese Academy of Science Exchange Programmes in 1988 and 1991. He then served as an external member of the Steering Committee for Chemotherapy of Malaria (CHEMAL) within Tropical Diseases Research, WHO, Geneva from 1993-1997 and as external member of the Drug Discovery Research Committee, WHO, Geneva from 1998-2002. Other involvements with malaria were through the Artesunate Project, WHO, Geneva with Dr. Melba Gomes from 1998¬, as consultant with the Australian Govt. AusAID Vietnam Malaria Control Project (1993-96), and with Bayer AG, Leverkusen. The latter involved the development of the new artemisinin artemisone, which completed an initial Phase II trial in 2006. He is a fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, a member the American Chemical Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. He has served chairman of Hong Kong Chapter of the American Chemical Society (1999-2000), and is a member of the HKUST University Senate, and University council. Research interests include development new peroxidic antimalarials and mode of action, drug design in synthesis of quinoline antimalarials and mode of action, reagent- and mechanism based synthesis of bioactive natural products, selectively cytotoxic cancer stem cell agents, and others.