Derek Pratt
professor
Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences
University of Ottawa
Canada
Biography
Prof. Pratt is an Ottawa native. He left in 1999 to pursue his Ph.D. and post-doctoral studies in the U.S. and then returned to Canada in 2005 for his first independent academic appointment at Queen’s University. In 2010, Prof. Pratt was recruited to uOttawa where he directs an internationally-recognized program in organic and biological chemistry. The focus of his program is the mechanisms and products of free radical reactions, and in particular, lipid (hydrocarbon) autoxidation and its inhibition by antioxidants. Prof. Pratt’s research, which involves synthetic organic chemistry, mechanistic organic chemistry and chemical biology, has lead to significant fundamental advances in organic and biological chemistry, but also to noteworthy practical developments, detailed in multiple patents and technologies under development with industrial partners.
Research Interest
Mechanistic organic chemistry, Synthetic organic chemistry, Chemical biology.
