Drug resistant bacteria is something that is of grave cause of concern for scientists. The fear is that without the development of new antibiotics that work different from what we already have, we could face infections that are resistant to all existing treatments. Similarly, drug resistance in cancer is problematic as the majority of patients who respond to initial cancer treatments ultimately relapse.

With this as a driving motivator, Herman Sintim, Grace-Rupley Professor of Chemical Biology at the University of Notre Dame, is researching new types of antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs in his role as Associate Director of Harper Cancer Research Institute.

His research into drug resistance is two-fold. The first area is more fundamental, aiming to uncover the pathways in bacteria that contribute to drug resistance. The second is more translational, aiming to develop anti-cancer drugs by targeting cancer growth pathways and the immune system: aiming to find ways to both kill cancer cells and activate the immune system to fight against them.

“Drug resistance is a serious problem in medicine, and so any efforts aimed at understanding how this resistance emerges or developing compounds that could treat it have a lot of merit,” Sintim said.

Outside of the lab, Sintim teaches organic chemistry to both undergraduate and graduate students. “I’m very passionate about organic chemistry because I believe that it’s one of those central sciences. If you want to develop drugs, you have to know about organic chemistry,” he said, “Graduate students who want to help me develop these potential drugs must have a strong foundation in the concepts of this course.”

Recalling how he got interested in researching cancer, Sintim said it was somewhat by accident. He originally started his career studying antibiotics, but one of the compounds that he was developing as an antibiotic could kill leukemia cell lines better than bacteria cells. Due to its selectivity, Sintim pursued the drug as a cancer treatment, leading him on the path to focusing heavily on this disease.

Sintim started work for the University at the beginning of 2025. Before his current role, Sintim was a distinguished professor with Purdue University for nine years, and was invited to give a talk at Notre Dame.

“Through this I got to learn more about the University,” he said, “One of the big things that attracted me to working here was the fact that when you talked to the people, you could really tell they had a true passion to do good in the world.”

As part of a thank you for speaking, Sintim was gifted a Notre Dame jacket by the school. He wore it to the airport shortly after the talk and realized people were smiling at him for no reason. Then he realized it was because it was his ND gear.

“It just really told me that the school has such a great community and family of people — a great family filled with people wanting to do good in the world,” Sintim said.

He was also drawn to the diverse and rich backgrounds that the members of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry have, lending itself to vast amounts of intellectual enrichment and learning opportunities for him. He also appreciated the robust facilities provided within the department–allowing him to perform any type of experiment he would want or need to conduct.

Sintim loves soccer. After getting his bachelor's degree at University College London, his doctorate degree at Oxford, and spending time as a postdoctoral fellow there as well, Sintim has become an avid Arsenal fan (their Premier League team). He notes how he is a “long suffering fan,” as every year they get close to winning but never quite get it done — but he’s nonetheless loyal.

Sintim’s continued work on understanding drug resistance and developing treatments in light of those findings will help greatly in addressing the concerns that scientists face on the resistance issue.

Originally published by Anna Salentine at science.nd.edu on May 19, 2025.