Research in the Pierce group is focused on harnessing the diverse architectures of marine natural products to inspire advances in chemical reaction development, chemical biology and therapeutic lead identification. In addition to our published work, we have advanced projects in the synthesis of complex natural products (monanchocidin, batzelladine D, curvulamine, ansalactams A-D, the melokhanines, the abyssomicins and clindamycin) as well as several methods development projects toward medicinally relevant heterocycles. A subset of our projects have integrated chemical biology studies to explore the molecules’ mechanism of action and reveal lead molecules for further development in the areas of infectious disease, cancer and pain; others are focused on exploring reaction mechanism and asymmetric development. Finally, we are invested in pursuing the commercialization of key discoveries from our lab, both through start-up creation and industry engagement.