William Gerwick

Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Oceanography and Pharmaceutical Sciences

William Gerwick is Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Oceanography and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California San Diego, jointly appointed at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. He earned a BS in biochemistry from UC Davis in 1976 and a PhD in oceanography and marine natural products chemistry from Scripps in 1981, followed by postdoctoral training in microbial biosynthesis of natural products at the University of Connecticut. He served as a professor in the College of Pharmacy at Oregon State University before returning to San Diego in 2005, was promoted to Distinguished Professor in 2011, and directed the Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine from 2015 to 2020. His laboratory investigates natural products from marine algae and cyanobacteria for cancer, inflammation, malaria, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis; among his best-known discoveries is the anticancer compound curacin A. He has published close to 300 scientific papers, served as president of the American Society of Pharmacognosy, and is a Fellow of the AAAS.