ESA Resumes
Aaron T. Dossey, Ph.D.
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Founder/Owner: All Things Bugs - Capitalizing on Low-Crawling Fruit from Insect-Based Innovation
http://www.allthingsbugs.com/Curriculum_Vitae.pdf
The over arching goal of my current research is to capitalize on the chemical and biological diversity which exists among arthropods for a host of applications including drug discovery, identifying new insect repellents and how insects might contribute to a more sustainable human food supply. There are roughly 700,000 – 1,000,000 named species of insects and it is estimated that there are a total of 4,000,000 insect species that exist on earth. Over 47% of cancer drugs are derived from natural products and about 70% of all “new active substances” (or “New Chemical Entities”) are derived from or based on natural products (Newman and Cragg, 2007). However, Class Insecta, the largest and most diverse group of organisms on the planet, is also one of the least explored with regard to the field of drug discovery (Natural Product Reports, Dossey, 2010).
The research program I began in 2006 emerged from my life-long passion for entomology and understanding the biochemical and evolutionary mechanisms that underlie natural processes. It has already led to award winning publications as well as a number of speaking engagements at meetings and institutions. For example, my discovery of Parectadial in Parectatosoma mocquerysi was awarded the Jack Beal Award for “Best Paper in the Journal of Natural Products” for 2007. This compound has also been tested and found to possess some anti-cancer activity (please see my CV and “Research Plan” for more details). More recently in December 2010, another of my articles was given the “Editor’s Choice Award” from the Entomological Society of America for “Best Article in Annals of the Entomological Society of America” at the society’s annual conference.
Recently I was notified that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is interested in funding one of my grant proposals, pending my ability to secure a position at an appropriate research institution. Additionally, in my previous position at the University of Florida, I was the primary author and principle investigator of an International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups (ICBG) grant (sponsored by Fogarty International Center of the NIH) section or “associate program” (AP). While the grant was ultimately not funded, the reviews of my section were the best out of all of the AP’s, with one reviewer stating “The AP3 is integrated but independent and perhaps is best of all AP's.”
In addition to my interests in insect chemistry I also believe that there is substantial potential for insects to become the sustainable livestock of the future and to help combat world hunger and malnutrition. I believe that the development of insects as a sustainable food source represents a tremendous opportunity with substantial ‘low-crawling fruit’ yet to be explored.
