Barry R. O'Keefe- Keynote Speaker
Chief of the Natural Products Branch, Developmental Therapeutics Program, National Cancer Institute
Dr. O’Keefe leads the Natural Products Branch of the Developmental Therapeutics Program at the National Cancer Institute, where he oversees a campaign to test natural product extracts from plants and animals collected around the world for their potential anticancer action. His program also purifies the active ingredients of these complex extracts, from sponges, sea squirts and seaweeds for example, so that they may be evaluated as lead compounds for new cancer medicines. Dr. O'Keefe earned a Bachelor of Science degree in botany from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in pharmacognosy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 1994 he joined the NCI Laboratory of Drug Discovery Research and Development to study novel proteins from natural products extracts. Dr. O'Keefe is currently Director of the Molecular Targets Program and Head of the Protein Chemistry and Molecular Biology Section, as well as Chief of the Natural Products Branch, Developmental Therapeutics Program, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, NCI.