He holds the endowed Debbie and Sylvia DeSantis Chair in Natural Products Drug Discovery and Development and serves as Department Chair. He combines his interest in marine natural products chemistry with genomics and proteomics approaches for the discovery and characterization of potential drugs and molecular drug targets. Specifically, he leads a multidisciplinary marine natural products program that integrates genome mining, isolation, chemical synthesis, pharmacology, mechanism of action and early development studies. He is founding Director of UF’s Center for Natural Products, Drug Discovery and Development (CNPD3). He has published over 160 papers, is inventor on 40 issued patents (US, PCT and nationalized) and cofounded companies, consistent with the translational nature of his research and entrepreneurial mindset. He has received the UF Technology Innovator Award for several years. He has been invited to prestigious national and international meetings and has presented at institutions around the world (over 140 invited lectures). He serves as Commissioning Editor and Editorial Board member of Natural Product Reports, the most prestigious and highest ranked journal in the field, and on the Editorial Board of Marine Drugs.