• Home
• About
• ScrippsNews
• Magazine
• Research
• Students
• Ships
• Support Scripps
• Jobs at Scripps
• SIO Only

GERWICK, WILLIAM

Distinguished Professor

Degrees:

• B.S., University of California, Davis
• Ph.D., UCSD, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Research Interests:

• Biosynthesis of Marine Natural Products
• Biofuel Production by Cultured Marine Microalgae
• Anticancer, Antiinflammatory, Tropical Disease Drug Discovery
• Marine Natural Products Drug Discovery
• Molecular Genetics of Cyanobacterial Natural Products Biosynthesis
• Molecular Evolution of Natural Product Pathways in Marine Cyanobacteria
• Elicitation of Natural Products Biosynthesis
• Cyanobacterial Phylogenetics

Courses Recently Taught:

• SIO 262: Seminr/Marine Natural Products
• SIO 296: Special Topics/Marine Biology
• SIO 87: Freshman Seminar
• SIO262: Seminr/Marine Natural Products
• SIO264: Sp Top/Marine Natural Prd Chem
• SIO296: Special Topics/Marine Biology

Honors and Awards:

• UCSD Chancellor's Associates Excellence Award for Research in Science and Engineering, 2011
• Society Fellow, American Society of Pharmacognosy, 2008
• International Service Award, Oregon State University, 2004
• Sigma Xi Researcher of the Year, Oregon State University Chapter, 2004
• Elected Chair of the US-Japan Symposium on Marine Natural Products Chemistry, 2003
• Elected President of the American Society of Pharmacognosy, 2002-2003
• Chair, Gordon Research Conference on Marine Natural Products, 1996
• Fogarty Senior International Fellowship, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 1990-1991
• New Investigator Research Award, NCI, 1986-1989

Mentoring:

• Miller, Bailey (Graduate; 2011-)
• Boudreau, Paul (Graduate; 2009-)
• Choi, Hyukjae (Post Doc; 2009-)
• Mevers, Emily (Graduate; 2009-)
• Monroe, Emily (Post Doc; 2009-)
• Periera, Alban (Post Doc; 2009-)
• Tidgewell, Kevin (Post Doc; 2009-)
• Trentacoste, Emily (Graduate; 2009-)
• Coates, Robert (Graduate; 2008-)
• Engene, Niclas (Graduate; 2006-2011)
• Jones, Adam (Graduate; 2006-2011)
• Grindberg, Rashel (Graduate; 2005-2010)
• Nunnery, Joshawna (Graduate; 2005-)
• Simmons, Thomas (Graduate; 2005-2008)
• Sorrels, Carla (Graduate; 2005-2010)
• Suyama, Takashi (Graduate; 2005-2010)

Han, B.; Gross, H.; Goeger, D. E.; Mooberry, S. L.; Gerwick, W.H. “Aurilides B and C, Cancer Cell Toxins from a Papua New Guinea Collection of the Marine Cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula” J. Nat. Prod. 2005, 69, 572-575.

Andrianasolo, E. H.; France, D.; Cornell-Kennon, S.; Gerwick, W. H. “Halogenated Monoterpenes from the Madagascar Red Marine Alga Portieria hornemannii,” J. Nat. Prod. 2005, 69, 576-579.

LePage, K.T.; Dickey, R.W.; Gerwick, W.H.; Jester, E.L.; Murray, T.F. On the use of neuro-2a neuroblastoma cells versus intact neurons in primary culture for neurotoxicity studies. Critical Reviews in Neurobiology 2005, 17, 27-50.

Flatt, P. M.; O’Connell, S. J.; McPhail, K. L.; Zeller, G.; Willis, C. L.; Sherman, D., Gerwick, W. H.; “Characterization of the Initial Enzymatic Steps of Barbamide Biosynthesis” J. Nat. Prod. 2006, 69, 938-944.

Torres-Mendoza, D.; Gonzalez, J.; Ortega-Barria, E.; Heller, M.V.; Capson, T.L.; McPhail, K.; Gerwick, W.H.; Cubilla-Rios, L. Weakly Antimalarial Flavonol Arabinofuranosides from Calycolpus warscewiczianus. Journal of Natural Products 2006, 69, 826-828.

Gross, H.; Goeger, D. E.; Hills, P.; Mooberry, S. L.; Ballantine, D. L.; Murray, T. F.; Valeriote, F. A.; Gerwick W. H. “Lophocladines, Bioactive Alkaloids from the Red Alga Lophocladia sp.” J. Nat. Prod. 2006, 69, 640-644.

Simmons, T. L.; McPhail, K. L.; Ortega-Barria, E.; Gerwick, W. H. “Belamide A, a new cytotoxic tetrapeptide from a Panamanian marine cyanobacterium” Tetrahedron Lett. 2006, 47, 3387-3390.

Correa, J.E.; Rios, C. H.; Castillo, A.; Romero, L.I.; Ortega-Barria, E.; Coley, P.D.; Kursar, T.A.; Heller, M.V.; Gerwick, W.H.; Cubilla, L. Minor alkaloids from Guatteria dumetorum with antileishmanial activity. Planta Medica 2006, 72, 270-272.

Dorrestein, P. C.; Blackhall, J.; Straight, P. D.; Fischbach, M. A.; Garneau-Tsodikova, S.; Edwards, D. L.; McLaughlin, S.; Lin, M.; Gerwick, W. H.; Kolter, R.; Kolter, R.; Walsh, C. T.; Kelleher, N. L. Biochemistry 2006 45, 1537-1546.

Gu, L.; Jia, J.; Liu, H.; Hkansson, K.; Gerwick, W.H.; Sherman, D.H. Metabolic Coupling of Dehydration and Decarboxylation in the Curacin A Pathway: Functional Identification of a Mechanistically Diverse Enzyme Pair. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2006, 128, 9014-9015.

Ramaswamy, A.V.; Flatt, P.M.; Edwards, D.J.; Simmons, T. L.; Han, B.; Gerwick, W.H. The secondary metabolites and biosynthetic gene clusters of marine cyanobacteria. Applications in biotechnology. Frontiers in Marine Biotechnology 2006, 175-224.

Gross, H.; Stockwell, V. O.; Henkels, M. D.; Nowak-Thompson, B.; Loper, J. E.; Gerwick, W. H. The Genomisotopic Approach: A Systematic Method to Isolate The Products Of Orphan Biosynthetic Gene Clusters, Chemistry and Biology 2007, 14, 53-63.

Suyama, T. L.; Gerwick, W. H. Practical Total Syntheses of Epiquinamide Enantiomers, Organic Letters, 2006, 8, 4541-4543.

Andersson, M. X.; Hamberg, M.; Kourtchenko, O.; Brunnström, A.; McPhail, K. L.; Gerwick, W. H.; Göbel, C.; Feussner, I.; Ellerström, M. Oxylipin profiling of the hyper sensitive response in Arabidopsis thaliana: Formation of a novel OPDA containing galactolipid, Arabidopside E, J. Biol. Chem., 2006, 281, 31528-31537.

Andrianasolo, E. H.; Goeger, D.; Gerwick, W.H. “Mitsoamide, a cytotoxic linear lipopeptide from the Madagascar marine cyanobacterium Geitlerinema sp.” Pure & Applied Chemistry 2007, 79, 593-602.

Kursar, T.A.; Caballero-George, C.C.; Capson, T.L.; Cubilla, L.; Gerwick, W.H.; Gupta, M.P.; Ibañez, A.; Linington, R.G.; McPhail, K.L.; Ortega-Barría, E.; Romero L.I.; Solis, P.N.; Coley, P.D. “Obtaining Economic Benefits from Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity Through Bioprospecting” BioScience 2006, 56, 1005-1012.

Linington, R.G.; González, J.; Ureña, L.-D.; Romero, L.I.; Ortega-Barría, E.;Gerwick, W.H. “Venturamides A and B: Antimalarial Constituents of the Panamanian Marine Cyanobacterium Oscillatoria sp.” J. Nat. Prod. 2007, 70, 397-401

McPhail, K.L.; Correa, J.; Linington, R.G.; González, J.; Ortega-Barría, E.; Capson, T.L.; Gerwick, W.H. “Antimalarial Linear Lipopeptides from a Panamanian Strain of the Marine Cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula.” J. Nat. Prod. 2007, 70, 397-401.

Sanchez, L.A.; Capitan, Z.; Romero, L.I.; Ortega-Barria, E.; Gerwick, W.H.; Cubilla, L. Bio-assay guided isolation of germacranes with anti-protozoan activity from Magnolia sororum. Natural Product Communications 2007, 2, 1065-1069.

Gu, L.; Geders, T.W.; Wang, B.; Gerwick, W.H.; Hakansson, K.; Smith, J.L.; Sherman, D.H. GNAT-Like Strategy for Polyketide Chain Initiation. Science 2007, 318, 970-974.

Jimenez-Romero, C.; Torres-Mendoza, D.; Gonzalez, L.D.; Ortega-Barria, E.; McPhail, K.L.; Gerwick, W.H.; Cubilla, L. Hydroxyalkenylresorcinols from Stylogyne turbacensis. Journal of Natural Products 2007, 70, 1249-1252.

Kourtchenko, O.; Andersson, M.X.; Hamberg, M.; Brunnstroem, A.; Goebel, C.; McPhail, K.L.; Gerwick, W.H.; Feussner, I.; Ellerstroem, M. Oxo-phytodienoic acid-containing galactolipids in Arabidopsis: jasmonate signaling dependence. Plant Physiology 2007, 145, 1658-1669.

Geders, T.W.; Gu, L.; Mowers, J.C.; Liu, H.; Gerwick, W.H.; Hakansson, K.; Sherman, D.H.; Smith, J.L. Crystal Structure of the ECH2 Catalytic Domain of CurF from Lyngbya majuscula: Insights Into A Decarboxylase Involved In Polyketide Chain B-Branching. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2007, 282, 35954-35963.

Wrasidlo, W.; Mielgo, A.; Torres, V.; Barbero, S.; Stolenov, K.; Suyama, T.; Gerwick, W.; Carson, D.; Stupack, D.G. “The marine lipopeptide Somocystinamide A triggers apoptosis via caspase 8,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 2008, 105, 2313-2318.

Grindberg, R.V.; Shuman, C.F.; Sorrels, C.M.; Wingerd, J.; Gerwick, W.H. “Neurotoxic Alkaloids from Cyanobacteria”, In “Modern Alkaloids, Structure, Isolation, Synthesis and Biology” E. Fattorusso and O. Taglialatela-Scafati, eds., Wiley-VCH Verlang GmbH & Co., Weinheim, 2008, pp. 139-170.

Simmons, T. L.; Gerwick, W. H. “Anticancer Drugs Of Marine Origin” in Oceans and Human Health, Risks and Remedies, P. Walsh, L. Fleming, H. Solo-Gabriele, and W.H. Gerwick, eds., Elsevier Press, 2008, pp 429-449.

Simmons, T.L.; Coates, R.C.; Clark, B.R.; Engene, N.; Gonzalez, D.; Esquenazi, E.; Dorrestein, P.C.; Gerwick, W.H. “Biosynthetic Origin of Natural Products Isolated from Marine Microorganism-Invertebrate Assemblages,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 2008, 105, 4587-4594.

Gonzalez, D.; Esquenazi, E.; Gerwick, W.H.; Dorrestein, P.C. “Visualizing the spatial distribution of secondary metabolites produced by marine cyanobacteria and sponges via MALDI-TOF imaging.” Molecular BioSystems 2008, 4, 562-570.

Gutierrez, M.; Suyama, T.; Engene, N.; Wingerd, J.; Matainaho, T.; Gerwick, W.H. "Apratoxin D, a Potent Cytotoxic Cyclodepsipeptide from Papua New Guinea Collections of the Marine Cyanobacteria Lyngbya majuscula and Lyngbya sordida". J. Nat. Prod. 2008, 71, 1099-1103.

Medina, R.A.; Goeger, D.E.; Hills, P.; Mooberry, S.L.; Huang, N.; Romero, L.I.; Ortega-Barria, E.; Gerwick, W.H.; McPhail, K.L. “Coibamide A, a Potent Antiproliferative Cyclic Depsipeptide from the Panamanian Marine Cyanobacterium Leptolyngbya sp.” Journal of the American Chemical Society 2008, 130, 6324-6325.

Simmons, T.L.; Engene, N.; Urena, L.; Romero, L.I.; Ortega-Barria, E.; Gerwick, L.; Gerwick, W.H. Viridamides A and B, Lipodepsipeptides with Antiprotozoal Activity from the Marine Cyanobacterium Oscillatoria nigro-viridis. Journal of Natural Products 2008, 71, 1544-1550.

Clark, B.R.; Engene, N.; Teasdale, M.E.; Rowley, D.C.; Matainaho, T.; Valeriote, F.A.; Gerwick, W.H. Natural Products Chemistry and Taxonomy of the Marine Cyanobacterium Blennothrix cantharidosmum. Journal of Natural Products 2008, 71, 1530-1537.

Suyama, T.L.; Gerwick, W.H. Stereospecific Total Synthesis of Somocystinamide A. Organic Letters 2008,10, 4449-4452.