Mark T. Hamann, Ph.D., serves as the Charles & Carol Cooper Endowed Chair in Pharmacy within the Department of Drug Discovery & Biomedical Sciences of the College of Pharmacy at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). He also holds adjunct appointments with the University of Maryland Institute of Marine & Environmental Technology and the Bigelow Marine Laboratory in Maine. Dr. Hamann began his career in GMP pharmaceutical manufacturing at Solvay Pharmaceuticals in Baudette, Minnesota, and then completed his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Organic Chemistry at the University of Hawaii, under the guidance of the late Professor Paul J. Scheuer.
During his graduate studies, Dr. Hamann discovered the lead anticancer agent, kahalalide F which entered clinical trials with the help of the biotech company PharmaMar. Dr. Hamann completed his postdoctoral studies with Professor Bill Baker at McMurdo Station in Antarctica and then spent 20 years as a faculty member and natural products researcher at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy. During his research career, Dr. Hamann has published over 250 scientific papers, reviews, book chapters and guided over 100 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and visiting scholars.
Dr. Hamann currently serves as an associate editor for Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, General Subjects. His group is actively involved in the isolation, structure determination, and optimization through synthesis of natural products and toxins with a focus on plant and invertebrate microbiomes. His group is currently working on the preclinical development of a small pipeline of natural products with activity against cancer, emerging infectious diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders.