DERKSEN RESEARCH GROUP
Darren Derksen, PhD
Professor of Chemistry
Department of Chemistry | University of Calgary
Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute
Charbonneau Cancer Institute
Hotchkiss Brain Institute
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Professor Derksen is originally from northern Alberta (a little over 1000 km north of Calgary). He completed his undergraduate Honours Chemistry degree in 2003 at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB). Then moving on to complete his PhD in the lab of Professor John C. Vederas at the same institution in 2008 working on the synthesis and evaluation of antimicrobial peptides and new synthetic methods. Professor Derksen then completed an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Cambridge in the lab of Professor Ian Paterson working on the total synthesis of peloruside A. Darren began his independent career at one of Canada's top primarily undergraduate institutions, St. Francis Xavier University on the east Coast of Canada (Antigonish, NS) in 2010 and then moved to the University of Calgary in 2014 to take up the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation Junior Chair in Medicinal Chemistry. Dr. Derksen was promoted to Associate Professor (with tenure) in 2018 and then to Full Professor in 2023. The Derksen research lab has been been supported with funding from the NSERC Discovery and NSERC Collaborative Research and Development grants, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation, and collaborative grants from CIHR, and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. The Derksen lab is integrated into multidisciplinary research institutes at the University of Calgary including the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.
Education
Post-doctoral Research Fellow
University of Cambridge, Cambridge UK
March 2008 - May 2010
Research Supervisor: Prof. Ian Paterson
Ph.D. Chemistry
University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada - 2008
Research Supervisor: Prof. John C. Vederas
B.Sc. Honors Chemistry (First Class Honors)
University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada - 2003
Honors and Awards
Selected External Awards (Independent Career)
Parex Innovation Fellowship - 2022
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Graduate Students' Association Excellence in Supervision Award
(University of Calgary) - 2020
Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute Junior Investigator Travel Grant - 2016
Careers in Cancer Research Development Program (Supported by CIHR-ICR and CCSRI) - 2015
Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation Award (Collaboration with Dr. Nizar Bahlis) - 2015
Canada Foundation for Innovation
(John R. Evans Leaders Fund) - 2015
Thieme Chemistry Journal Award - 2014
Awards Prior to Independent Career
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Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) Post-doctoral Fellowship
(University of Cambridge)
Boehringer Ingelheim Prize (University of Alberta)
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Postgraduate Studentship
(University of Alberta)
Walter H. Johns Graduate Fellowship
(University of Alberta)
Alberta Ingenuity Graduate Studentship
(University of Alberta)
Advanced Food and Materials Network
(AFMNet) Studentship (University of Alberta)
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