Scott Singleton

I am a professor in and vice chair of the Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I am also an adjunct professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the UNC School of Medicine. My research focuses on the chemical biology of DNA metabolism, especially as it relates to understanding the molecular basis of the evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens. Our approach aims to discover new small-molecule probes to tease apart important biological activities leading to antibiotic resistance, as well as to establish new druggable targets.

In my administrative role as Executive Director of The Academy, I oversee the Educational Technology Research & Development group and am helping to foster a culture of educational innovation within the School. In addition, I serve as chair of the School's Curriculum Transformation Oversight Committee that is leading the School's efforts to transform how professional pharmacists are educated. We seek to better position students to meet the health care needs of society in an increasingly complex landscape.

I am also the scientific founder of Synereca Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Synereca was spun out of UNC in late 2009 to address the growing problem of bacterial resistance to current antibiotics by developing orally active drugs that restore or increase the effectiveness of existing antibiotics. Synereca is an early discovery-stage biotech company that brings an innovative approach to combating antibiotic resistance by developing new drugs that block the root processes that allow bacteria both to escape an antibiotic's killing effect and to evolve to a resistant state.