Dr. Taifo Mahmud, a native of Indonesia, received his undergraduate and professional education in pharmacy from the University of North Sumatra. He then joined Osaka University in Japan where he earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in natural products chemistry. After three years of postdoctoral work on natural products biosynthesis, he joined the faculty of the University of Washington as a Research Assistant Professor of Chemistry. He joined the OSU College of Pharmacy in 2003 and is now Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry. Dr. Mahmud's research interests are broadly in bioorganic and natural products chemistry, biosynthesis of microbial secondary metabolites and the interface of molecular genetics, enzymology, and chemistry to create and develop novel pharmaceutically active leads. He has traveled to many countries and has been actively collaborating with scientists from Germany, China, Japan, Indonesia, and India.