Faculty and Staff

DONALD SIKAZWE
Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences
sikazwe@uiwtx.edu

Dr. Sikazwe graduated from Edward Waters College (Jacksonville, FL) in 1990 and the University of Florida (Gainesville, FL) in 1996 with BS. and MS. degrees, respectively.  In 2004, he earned a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Florida A & M University (Tallahassee, FL). His dissertation was in the CNS field and focused on the design/synthesis/characterization and evaluation of dopamine-2/dopamine-4 receptor ligands.

In 2002, he interned at Schering-Plough, in the Allergy and Immunology Division (Kenilworth, NJ). This research internship emphasized the synthesis of novel chemical templates for generating anti-inflammatory drug libraries. Upon completing his Ph.D. studies, he joined Professor Richard Glennon’s group (Medicinal Chemistry Department) at Virginia Commonwealth University or VCU (Richmond, VA), as a Kirschstein-NRSA Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2004 - 2006). His research involved rational design, synthesis and structure activity relationship (SAR) studies of serotonin-6 (5HT-6) receptor ligands for CNS disorders.

After two years of postdoctoral work, Dr. Sikazwe joined the Roskamp Institute in 2006 and then Archer Pharmaceuticals Inc. in 2008 (both located in Sarasota, FL) and worked on an inter-disciplinary team of scientists to design and synthesize heterocyclic compounds for Alzheimer’s disease.  Dr. Sikazwe has authored/co-authored several scientific articles and holds one US patent.  His scholarly interests include the discovery of novel agents for treating neurodegenerative disorders.