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Faculty of Science and Technology

Department of Biological & Chemical Sciences

Dr. Keisha Ellis-Holder

Dr. Keisha Ellis-Holder

Lecturer in Organic Chemistry

Department: BCS

Bio

Dr. Ellis-Holder holds a B.A. in Chemistry and a PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, in upstate New York. Her graduate work was spent under the guidance of Professor Steven T. Diver, where she worked on the development of N-heterocyclic carbene ligands encapsulated in a cyclophane environment, designed to find applications in the use of the Grubbs metathesis catalyst.

Qualifications

PhD Chemistry (Synthetic Organic), SUNY Buffalo, 2005

Research Areas

Her current research interests include applications in natural products chemistry with selected interest in meroterpenoids that originate in plants. Explorations have included species such as Montrichardia arborescens and Psidium guajava, Aloe barbadensis (Aloe vera), Abelmoschus esculentus (okra) and Opuntia fiscus (cactus) and Cymbopogon citratus.

Current research projects focus on:

  • Montrichardia arborescens
  • Psidium guajava
  • Cymbopogon citratus

Keywords

Bioprospecting, Meroterpenoids, secondary metabolites, guajadial, psidial A, P. guajava, M. arborescens, O. fiscus, C. citratus, A. barbadensis.


Department of Biological & Chemical Sciences
Telephone: (246) 417-4574/4324/4323/4322 Email: bcs@cavehill.uwi.edu