Rate My Professor Connie Locher

Associate Professor Connie Locher holds a PhD in Natural Product Chemistry from Northern Territory University (now Charles Darwin University), awarded on 1 November 2000, for her thesis titled "A new approach to the synthesis of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives using benzotriazole methodology." She also earned a Staatsexamen in Pharmacy from the University of Tübingen, Germany, on 1 November 1995. Following her doctoral studies, she served as Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in the School of Pharmacy at Curtin University of Technology in Perth from 2001 to 2009. In late 2009, she was appointed Associate Professor in Medicinal Chemistry within the Pharmacy Program of UWA’s School of Medicine and Pharmacology, now part of the School of Health and Clinical Sciences. At UWA, she teaches Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry in the Master of Pharmacy program, coordinates the Fundamentals of Research in Pharmacy unit, and contributes to other units.

Dr Locher's research interests center on natural product chemistry, with a particular emphasis on the phytochemical analysis of Western Australian honeys using high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) to assess antioxidant profiles and develop formulations for wound care. Her work also encompasses the isolation of bioactive compounds from traditional Australian Aboriginal and Asian medicinal plants, paediatric formulations, complementary and alternative medicines, and the promotion of medical wellness and healthy communities. She is actively involved in the Centre for Optimisation of Medicines and coordinates projects under Program 2 of the Cooperative Research Centre for Honey Bee Products. Locher has received Excellence in Teaching Awards for Postgraduate Coursework Teaching in 2017 and 2014, as well as an Excellence and Innovation in Teaching Award in 2005. Notable publications include "Development and Validation of a Stability-Indicating HPTLC-Based Assay for the Quantification of Nitrofurazone Ointment" (Molecules, 2025), "Development of a Validated High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) Analysis Protocol for Salivary Caffeine Used as a Probe Drug" (Molecules, 2025), "Physicochemical Characteristics, Antioxidant Properties, and Identification of Bioactive Compounds in Australian Stingless Bee Honey Using High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography" (Molecules, 2025), and "Profiling of Australian Stingless Bee Honey Using Multivariate Data Analysis of High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography Fingerprints" (Chemosensors, 2025). She contributes as a reviewer for journals including Trends in Food Science and Technology, Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, and Frontiers in Pharmacology.