Associate Professor Andrés Parra was born at Huércal-Overa (Almería, Spain) in 1951. He studied Chemistry at the University of Granada, where he earned his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry in 1977 and 1982, respectively, under the supervision of Professor A. García-Granados López de Hierro. Over the years 1978/1979/1980 he was awarded a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science, and also during this period, he was appointed as Assistant Professor in the same department while finishing his doctoral thesis. From 1980 to 1989 he worked as Secondary Level Full Professor teaching in several secondary centres of the provinces of Jaén and Granada while maintaining close contact with his research group. In addition, part of this period (1989-1994) he reached a temporary full-time teaching and research position in the Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Granada. In 1994, he reached a permanent Associate Professor position, which he maintains today and he has recently been accredited as Organic Chemistry Full Professor (01/10/2013). Since returning to the University of Granada, he has been a member of the research group “BIONAT, Natural Products: Biotechnology and Chemistry” PAIDI FQM -139 of the Junta de Andalucía (Spain).
Natural Products, Sideritis, Biotransformation, Alpeorujo, Solid-Phase Organic Synthesis, Chemical Derivatization, Biological Properties.
The scientific interest of Professor Parra is related fundamentally to the chemistry of natural products. In the early years his research was directed towards phytochemical, biomimetic, microbiological, and semisynthetic studies on mono-, sesqui- and diterpenes isolated from genus of the Sideritis of the Labiatae family, a research field in which he maintained a high scientific production for over a decade. Subsequently, he switched to another natural source, namely olive-mill wastes, which are abundant in southern Spain, providing several value-added natural products of the triterpene and phenolic types. These natural organic compounds constitute the raw material to carry out biomimetic and semisynthetic studies in order to generate products having noteworthy biological properties by using the general techniques of organic synthesis and, in particular, the philosophy of Combinatorial Chemistry and using also technique of Solid-Phase Organic Synthesis. Also notable is his significant contribution to the applied science engaging in numerous technology-transfer activities such the participation in a technology-based spin-off company, the development of different research contracts, and the preparation of several patents related to the production of natural products from natural sources and the potential applications of these natural compounds, such as antioxidant, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antiparasitic agents, as well as additives for animal feed, cosmetics, nutraceuticals, and functional foods.
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