David was born and raised in Slovenia, where he obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from the University of Ljubljana. He carried out his undergraduate research with Prof. K. C. Nicolaou at Scripps Research and Prof. Samuel J. Danishefsky at Columbia, where he got his first taste of total synthesis. In 2006, David moved to California and completed his Ph.D. studies with Prof. K. C. Nicolaou in 2011, where he worked on the target-driven total synthesis of complex natural products. David then joined Prof. Erick M. Carreira's group at ETH as a postdoctoral fellow and explored the field of asymmetric synthesis involving Ir-catalyzed allylation chemistry. In 2014, David joined the faculty at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and moved to Rice University in 2024. His research interests span from the synthesis of complex, biologically active natural products and the related chemical biology to methodology development. 

Research summary:

Central to our research program is the discovery of new reactivities and guiding principles for the synthesis of complex molecules. We are especially attracted to problems encountered at the frontiers of organic synthesis, where the development of new solutions and approaches is highly desirable and necessary. Natural products provide a powerful setting to examine and study methods as well as to bridge organic synthesis and human medicine. Our research in the area of natural products is placed on identification and analysis of new chemotypes that display promising therapeutic potential and are characterized by novel or unknown activities to disease-related biomolecules. The main research interests of the group are the target-driven as well as methodology-driven synthesis of structurally complex, biologically active natural products where fresh approaches and methods culminate in innovative design and efficient outcomes. Additionally, our group is intensely involved in the discovery and development of catalytic asymmetric transformations as well as stoichiometric processes. Specifically, the focus is on transformations that fundamentally expand the retrosynthetic arsenal and provide access to high-value-added compounds.