Barry R. O’Keefe, Ph.D

Chief

Natural Products Branch

Dr. Barry R. O’Keefe received a B.S. in Botany from Michigan State University, and a Ph.D. in Pharmacognosy from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1993. In 1994 he joined the National Cancer Institute’s Laboratory of Drug Discovery Research and Development to study novel proteins from natural products extracts. He was promoted to Associate Group Leader for Protein Chemistry in 1996 and Group Leader for Protein Chemistry in 2001 as he put together a research program based on novel proteins and their specific interactions with molecular targets involved in cancer and AIDS. In 2006 Dr. O’Keefe was promoted to Section Head for Protein Chemistry and Molecular Biology in the NCI’s Molecular Targets Development Program. In 2008, he was appointed the Deputy Chief of the Molecular Targets Laboratory with expanded responsibilities for the broader focus of the entire laboratory’s efforts in screening natural products and identifying novel bioactive molecules. Recently, Dr. O’Keefe has also been appointed the Chief of the Natural Products Branch of the Developmental Therapeutics Program of the NCI where his work involves optimizing the utility of and research on natural products extracts including those housed in the NCI’s repository.