BS University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1997
PhD University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 2002
NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 2002-2004

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Virginia Tech, 2007-present
Research Assistant Professor, Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine, 2007-present

Honors and Awards:
Named Blackwood Junior Faculty Fellow of Life Sciences, 2010

We are interested in using chemistry to understand biological processes. Central to our theme is organic chemistry as a tool that intersects with molecular life sciences such as molecular and cell biology. Our primary focus is the development of chemical toolboxes to address problems in biology. Currently, our work is aimed at the following:

• Development of novel diboron reagents for the mild and selective boration of activated carbon-carbon bonds
• Development of medium-sized branched peptides to target RNA structures associated with HIV as the next generation anti-HIV therapeutics
• Defining the roles of sphingosine kinases in hyperproliferative diseases by developing cell permeable small molecule libraries as probes
• Development of N-terminal peptidic boronic acids as protease inhibitors

1. Calderone, J.A. and Santos, W.L. Copper(II)-Catalyzed Silyl Conjugate Addition to α,β-Unsaturated Conjugated Compounds: Brønsted Base-Assisted Activation of Si–B Bond in Water. Org. Lett. 2012, 14, 2090-2093. DOI: 10.1021/ol300618j
2. Thorpe, S.B.; Calderone, J.A. and Santos, W.L. Unexpected copper (II) catalysis:  Catalytic amine base promoted β-borylation of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds in water. Org. Lett. 2012, 14, 1918-1921. DOI: 10.1021/ol300575d
3. Crumpton, J.B. and Santos, W.L. Site-specific incorporation of diamondoids on DNA using click chemistry. Chem. Commun. 2012, 48, 2018 - 2020. DOI:10.1039/C2CC16860J
4. Raje, M.R.; Knott, K.; Kharel, Y.; Bissel, P.; Lynch, K.R. and Santos, W.L. Design, synthesis and biological activity of sphingosine kinase 2 selective inhibitors. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2012, 20, 183-194. DOI:10.1016/j.bmc.2011.11.011
5. Bryson, D.R.; Zhang, W.; McLendon, P.M.; Reineke, T.M. and Santos, W.L. Toward Targeting RNA Structure:  Branched Peptides as Cell-Permeable Ligands to TAR RNA. ACS Chem. Biol. 2012, 7, 210–217. DOI: 10.1021/cb200181v