Praveen Nekkar Rao

Dr. Nekkar Rao specializes in medicinal and bioorganic chemistry; exploring rational drug design aided by molecular modelling techniques and small molecule synthetic organic/medicinal chemistry.

His work includes method development; solid phase peptide synthesis of bioactive peptides / peptidomimics; modern analytical techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy and high performance liquid chromatography; and development of high-throughput biochemical screening protocols to discover lead candidates.

• Drug Discovery
• Rational Drug Design & Medicinal Chemistry
• Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders
• Cancer Therapy
• Antiviral Agents
• Theranostic Materials
• Molecular Therapeutics and Theranostics
• Synthetic Chemistry and Catalysis
• Drug Discovery, Design and Delivery
• Clinical Pharmacology

Drug discovery/rational design Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel organic molecules and peptides/peptidomimics as therapeutic agents

• 2006-8 Postdoctoral Fellowship, Specialization in Medicinal Chemistry (The Scripps Research Institute)
• 2004-5 Postdoctoral Fellowship, Specialization in Medicinal Chemistry (University of Alberta)
• 2004 PhD Pharmaceutical Science (University of Alberta)
• 1998 MPharm (Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences)
• 1995 BPharm (Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences)

• 2021-22, 2016 Outstanding Faculty Mentor in the Graduate Program
• 2015 Early Researcher Award, Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science, Government of Ontario

• Dr. Nekkar serves as a reviewer to a number of medicinal chemistry journals.
• He collaborates with researchers from the University of Alberta, Florida Atlantic University and Department of Neurology and Center for Clinical Neuroscience, Daping Hospital, China.

• Cross-appointed to the Department of Biology and the Department of Chemistry in the Faculty of Science

• PHARM 141 - Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry, Toxicology and Pharmacology
  • Taught in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
• PHARM 220 - Integrated Patient Focused Care 1
  • Taught in 2022
• PHARM 221 - Integrated Patient Focused Care 2
  • Taught in 2019, 2022
• PHARM 222 - Integrated Patient Focused Care 3
  • Taught in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
• PHARM 223 - Integrated Patient Focused Care 4
  • Taught in 2019, 2021, 2022
• PHARM 320 - Integrated Patient Focused Care 5
  • Taught in 2022, 2023
• PHARM 321 - Integrated Patient Focused Care 6
  • Taught in 2023
• PHARM 323 - Integrated Patient Focused Care 7
  • Taught in 2019, 2021, 2022
• PHARM 324 - Integrated Patient Focused Care 8
  • Taught in 2019, 2021, 2023

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• Yusheng Zhao, Praveen P. N. Rao, Small molecules N-phenylbenzofuran-2-carboxamide and N-phenylbenzo[b]thiophene-2-carboxamide promote beta-amyloid (Aβ42) aggregation and mitigate neurotoxicity. ACS Chemical Neuroscience 14, 4185-4198, 2023.
• Praveen P. N. Rao, Arash Shakeri, Yusheng Zhao, Frederic Calon, Strategies in the design and development of (TAR) DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) binding ligands. Eur J Med Chem 225, 113753, 2021.
• Praveen P. N. Rao, Amy Trinh Pham, Arash Shakeri, Amna El Shatshat, Yusheng Zhao, Rahul C. Karuturi, Ahmed A. Hefny, Drug repurposing: Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP4) inhibitors as potential agents to treat SARS-CoV-2 (2019-nCoV) infection. Pharmaceuticals 14, 44, 2021.
• Gary Tin, Tarek Mohamed, Arash Shakeri, Amy Trinh Pham, Praveen P. N. Rao, Interactions of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors with β-amyloid. ACS Chemical Neuroscience 9, 226-234, 2019.
• Tarek Mohamed, Sarbjeet Singh Gujral, Praveen P. N. Rao, Tau derived hexapeptide AcPHF6 promotes beta-amyloid (Aβ) fibrillogenesis. ACS Chemical Neuroscience 9, 773-782, 2018.
• Tarek Mohamed, Praveen P. N. Rao, 2,4-Disubstituted quinazolines as amyloid-beta aggregation inhibitors with dual cholinesterase inhibition and antioxidant properties: Development and structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 126, 823-843, 2017.
• Tarek Mohamed, Arash Shakeri, Praveen P. N. Rao, Structure-activity relationship studies of isomeric 2,4-diaminoquinazolines on β-amyloid aggregation kinetics. ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters 7, 502-507, 2016, (featured on the Cover page).
• Tarek Mohamed, Arash Shakeri, Praveen P. N. Rao, Amyloid cascade in Alzheimer's disease: recent advances in Medicinal Chemistry. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 113, 258-272, 2016.
• Tiago Silva, Tarek Mohamed, Arash Shakeri, Praveen P. N. Rao, Loreto Martinez-Gonzalez, Daniel I. Perez, Ana Martinez, Maria Joao Valente, Jorge Garrido, Eugenico Uriarte, Paula Serrao, Patricia Soares da Silva, Fernando Remiao, Fernanda Borges. Development of blood-brain barrier permeable nitrocatechol-based catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitors with reduced potential for hepatotoxicity Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 59, 7584-7597, 2016.
• Tin G, Mohamed T, Gondora N, Beazely M. A. Praveen P N Rao Tricyclic phenothiazine and phenoselenazine derivatives as potential multi-targeting agents to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Medicinal Chemistry Communication 6, 1930-1941, 2015, (featured on the Cover page and hot article for the year).
• Xian-Le Bu, Praveen P N Rao, Yan-Jiang Wang. Anti-amyloid aggregation activity of natural compounds: Implications for Alzheimer's drug discovery. Molecular Neurobiology 53, 3565-3575 2015.
• Tarek Mohamed, Tuan Hoang, Masoud Jelokhani-Niaraki, Praveen P N Rao. Tau-derived-hexapeptide 306VQIVYK311 aggregation inhibitors: Nitrocatechol moiety as a pharmacophore in drug design. ACS Chemical Neuroscience 4: 1559-1570, 2013.

• Indolizine derivatives, WO2013116948, 2013

• Breaking down roadblocks to help patients suffering from complex brain disorders
• Global Impact 2018-2019: New discovery could slow Alzheimer’s in its tracks
• Oct 23, 2018: This common medication can help overcome dementia
• April 6, 2018: Small molecule drug discovery: from countertop to over-the-counter