John Vederas, BSc, PhD, FRSC, FRS
Contact
Professor, Faculty of Science - Chemistry
- jvederas@ualberta.ca
- Phone
- (780) 492-5475
- Address
-
W5-39A Chemistry Centre - West
11227 Saskatchewan Drive NWEdmonton ABT6G 2G2
Overview
About
B.Sc. Chemistry - Stanford University
Ph.D. Organic Chemistry - Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Prof. George H. Büchi
Postdoctoral Fellow - Institut für Organische Chemie - Universität Basel - Prof. Christoph Tamm
Postdoctoral Fellow - Dept. Medicinal Chemistry - Purdue University - Prof. Heinz G. Floss
Elected Fellow Royal Society of Canada - 1997
Chemical Institute of Canada Medal - 2008
Elected Fellow Royal Society (FRS, London) - 2009
Elected Member American Academy of Microbiology - 2014
Senior Fellow Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (Molecular Architecture of Life) - 2016
For list of additional awards and appointments, please see http://www.chem.ualberta.ca/~vederas/appointments.html
John Vederas is the author of over 400 research publications, 4 books and 24 issued patents. Thus far he has had 75 Ph.D. students, 9 M.Sc. students, >70 postdoctoral fellows and >80 undergraduates complete research in his group. His current group is 9 graduate. students and 2 postdoctoral fellows.
Research
Understanding the chemistry by which Nature assembles biological molecules is not only an exciting intellectual endeavour, but is also a prerequisite to rationally influence life processes in medicine and agriculture. Our research currently centers on the formation of important biological molecules, including antimicrobial peptides, amino acid metabolites, and polyketides. The approach is interdisciplinary. Experimental aspects of our projects encompass organic synthesis and spectroscopic methodology (especially NMR and mass spectrometry), as well as isotopic techniques, natural products isolation, enzymatic reactions, and culturing of microorganisms. Current projects include:
- Investigation of the three dimensional structure, mechanism of action, formation and applications of bacteriocins from lactic acid bacteria. These antimicrobial peptides (37-80 amino acids) are non-toxic to mammals, naturally preserve food, and may be useful for treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.
- Examination of the mechanism of polyketide biosynthesis in fungi, especially formation of lovastatin (a widely-prescribed cholesterol-lowering drug) and generation of biologically active macrolides
- Construction of structurally modified neuropeptide hormones and their antagonists to provide improved activity and stability. These compounds influence a host of biological processes including lactation, childbirth, pain, appetite, pigmentation, pheromone biosynthesis and embryonic development.
- Understanding and duplicating the mechanisms of unusual enzymes, especially amino acid epimerases and hydroxylases (e.g. P450 and ketoglutarate dependent oxygenases).
Featured Publications
Lamer, T.; Chen, P.; Catenza, K.; Perov, I.; Donnelly, B.L.; Hsiao, Y.-T.; Van Oers, T.J.; Lemieux, M.J.; Vederas, J.C.
Protein Sci.. 2025 April; 34 (34:e70139):1-15 10.1002/pro.70139
Perov, I.; Catenza, K..;Abucay, J.J.; Hsiao, Y.-T.; Vederas, J.C.
Tetrahedron Lett.. 2025 April; 159 (15507):1-7 10.1016/j.tetlet.2025.155507
Chen, P.; Van Oers. T.J.; Arutyunova, E.; Fischer, C.; Wang, C.; Lamer, T.; van Belkum, M.J.; Young, H.S.; Vederas, J.C.; Lemieux, M.J.
JACS Au. 2024 July; 4 10.1021/jacsau.4c00508
Lamer, T. ; Vederas, J.C.
BMC Biotechnology . 2023 July; 23 10.1186/s12896-023-00779-5
Pascoe, C.A.; Engelhardt, D.B.; Rosana, A.R.R.; van Belkum, M.J.; Vederas, J.C.
Organic Lettrs. 2021 November; 23
Fischer, C.; Lamer, T.; Fernandez, K.; Gheblawi, M.; Wang, W.; Pascoe, C.; Lambkin, G.; Iturrioz, X.l; Llorens-Cortes, C.; Oudit, G.Y.; Vederas, J.C.
J. Med. Chem. . 2020 October; 63
Vuong, W.; Khan, M.B; Fischer, C.; Arutyunova, E.; Lamer, T.; Shields, J.; Saffran, H.A.; McKay, R.T.; van Belkum, M.J.; Joyce, M.; Young, H.S.; Tyrrell, D.L.; Vederas, J.C.; Lemieux, M.J.
Nature Comm.. 2020 May; 11 (4282):1-8
Jeella Z. Acedo, Sorina Chiorean, John C. Vederas, Marco J. van Belkum
FEMS Microbiol. Rev.. 2018 August; 42
Rachel V. K. Cochrane, Randy Sanichar, Gareth R. Lambkin, Bela Reiz, Wei Xu, Yi Tang, John C. Vederas
Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 2016 October; 55
Links
Research Students
Currently accepting undergraduate students for research project supervision.