Chemistry Professor Earns Nearly $150,000 for Defense Work

 MELBOURNE, FLA. — Andrew Knight, Ph.D., Florida Tech associate professor of chemistry, has been awarded two contracts totaling $148,278 from the
Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

His project involves designing novel metal-based drugs that will act as broad spectrum therapeutics to defend against biological warfare agents. These
might include Ebola virus and Venezuelan equine encephalitis. Working with him are Florida Tech graduate students in chemistry Christa Simmers, Aaron Funk
and Christian Agatemor; postdoctoral associate Ria Yngard; and undergraduate student Laura Congiardo. Collaborating with him is Edward Chang, Ph.D of the
Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC.

The research of Knight and his team centers around the interface of inorganic chemistry and other scientific sub-disciplines including catalysis and
organic synthesis, nanoscale and layered materials, medicinal chemistry, molecular biology, biodefense and green chemistry. Knight earned bachelor’s and
doctoral degrees at University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He was also a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Utah between 1990 and 1993.