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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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