Alexander Mankin is Distinguished Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Center for Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), USA. He also holds the title of A. Neyfakh Collegiate Professor at the College of Pharmacy, UIC.
Alexander’s research focuses on the mechanisms of action of ribosomal antibiotics. Through research carried out by his laboratory and collaborations with pharmaceutical companies, he has helped identify the sites and modes of action of several important classes of antibacterials, including oxazolidinones, ketolides, odilorhabdins, orthosomycins, ribosome-targeting antibacterial peptides, and others.
Studies carried out by his laboratory have re-defined the view of how important antibiotic classes such as macrolides and phenicols work and advanced the concept of context-specific action of ribosomal antibiotics.
Alexander has consulted for a number of pharmaceutical companies in the USA and Europe; served as a panelist for many national and international granting agencies and as a reviewer for top-tier scientific journals.