Kotra Research Group

Dr. Lakshmi P. Kotra is a Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at University of Toronto, Senior Scientist at Krembil Research Institute and at Multi-Organ Transplant Program at University Health Network.

​

Dr. Kotra received his Ph.D. in Pharmacy/Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Georgia (Prof. David Chu, inventor of multiple antiviral drugs) and postdoctoral training at Wayne State University (Prof. Shahiar Mobashery). Dr. Kotra authored/co-authored over 130 publications, over 20 patents, and delivered over 140 scientific talks internationally. Kotra inventions span novel small molecules as well as novel industrial technologies, and several have been licensed for commercialization including in NCEs, and medical cannabis/cannabinoids space. Dr. Kotra has contributed to a number of drug discovery and development projects including anti-HIV drugs, antibacterials, insulin, antimalarials, drugs targeting multiple sclerosis, and medical cannabis-based therapeutics. Dr. Kotra is the recipient of several awards including the Julia Levy award from the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) Canada in recognition of substantial contributions to the successful commercialization of innovation in Canada in the filed of biomedical science and engineering, Premier's Research Excellence Award from the Province of Ontario, RxD Health Research Foundation Research Career award, and the GlaxoSmithKline/Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences Young Investigator Award.

​

Dr. Kotra co-founded multiple companies, including WinSanTor Biosciences (San Diego, CA/diabetic neuropathy), CannScience Innovations (Toronto, Canada; now, Scientus Pharma, Inc.; medical cannabis and cannabinoids), and Lucid Psycheceuticals (Toronto, Canada; mental health and neurodegenerative disorders). Dr. Kotra has been serving a number of biotech companies as a board member and/or as a consultant to help with research, development, management and/or operations.

​

In recent years, Kotra group developed interest in medical cannabis and cannabinoids. Dr. Kotra's research group is experienced in the isolation and chemical profiling of the compounds from various sources of medical cannabis. Using in vitro and in vivo models of disease, Kotra group explores the biological effects of cannabinoids and their relevance to therapeutic claims in a wide-spectrum of diseases, with a very active collaborative network. The ultimate goal is to dissect the potential pharmaceutical utility from the cannabis plant and objectively evaluate the efficacy in various clinical applications paving way towards novel cannabinoids. Dr. Kotra serves on the Steering Committee of Toronto Cannabis and Cannabinoids Research Consortium, and the editorial board of the journal, Molecules.