Charles McKenna received his Ph. D in Chemistry at UC San Diego and was an NIH postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University. He then accepted a faculty position at the University of Southern California (USC) where he is now Professor of Chemistry & Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences. During the past decade, he was Chair of the Chemistry Department and then Dornsife College Vice Dean for Natural Sciences & Mathematics and currently directs the USC Drug Discovery Center.
His research interests in medicinal and bioorganic phosphorus chemistry include bisphosphonate imaging probes and therapeutics for bone diseases including bone cancers, nucleotide probes of DNA and RNA polymerases, design of novel anti-infective agents, and more effective approaches to cancer drug design. McKenna is the author of nearly 270 publications and patents and recipient of numerous awards for his research and teaching. He has also founded two biotech companies.
His research interests in medicinal and bioorganic phosphorus chemistry include bisphosphonate imaging probes and therapeutics for bone diseases including bone cancers, nucleotide probes of DNA and RNA polymerases, design of novel anti-infective agents, and more effective approaches to cancer drug design. McKenna is the author of nearly 270 publications and patents and recipient of numerous awards for his research and teaching. He has also founded two biotech companies.