Research Interest

Dr. Onajole's research interests focuses on drug discovery for orphan diseases (such tuberculosis) and neurodegenerative diseases (such as depression). His research is at the interface of organic chemistry and biology.

Through medicinal chemistry approach, a variety of novel compounds are designed and synthesized to target specific nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) in the central nervous system. Identifying such selective ligands would help to attenuate adverse side effects associated with actions at ganglionic a3I34*nAChRs (the asterisk indicates that the receptor complex is known to or may contain other subunits than those specified). A growing body of evidence indicates that a4I32*nAChR subtypes appear to play an essential role in depression as well as in cognition, attention, anxiety and nicotine dependence.

Dr. Onajole also focuses on other diseases such as mycobacterial (tuberculosis), bacterial (Gram positive and Gram negative), and fungal infections. His work in this field has led to the identification of novel indoleamides and polycyclic 'cage' compounds with mycobacterial and microbacterial properties. Dr. Onajole is passionate about medicinal chemistry and its applications in the discovery of small molecules, which are biologically active against various diseases.