Deyu Xie, a professor in CALS’ Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, is serving as 2018-19 president of the Phytochemical Society of North America, having been elected vice president last year.

The society encourages and stimulates research in chemistry, molecular biology, biochemistry and systems biology of plant constitutes and their effects on plant, animal and human physiology and pathology, renewable fuel and their industrial importance and use. Society membership is open to anyone – scientists, students and emeritus faculty members – with an interest in phytochemistry and the role of plant substances.

Xie’s research focuses on phytochemistry, metabolomics and metabolic engineering aimed at understanding the structure and biosynthesis of plant natural products. He and his colleagues are applying findings to establish metabolic engineering technology to modify crop plants to produce novel natural products for nutraceuticals or pharmaceuticals or to synthesize natural products for biofuels. He is also interested in establishing novel approaches to screen for natural anti-cancer, anti-malarial, and anti-aging products.