Rate My Professor David S. Larsen

Emeritus Professor David S. Larsen serves in the Department of Chemistry within the Division of Sciences at the University of Otago. He earned his MSc and PhD from the University of Auckland and joined the University of Otago in 1990, achieving the rank of Professor in 2015. That year, he presented his Inaugural Professorial Lecture entitled 'Therapeutic Molecules from Sweet Sugars to Poisonous Gases.' As an Emeritus Professor, he maintains an active research profile from his office in Science II, room 2n11.

Larsen's research centers on the development of synthetic methodologies for natural products and the synthesis of carbohydrates, glycolipids, and their analogues. His ongoing projects encompass the structure, synthesis, and biological activity of phosphatidylinositol mannosides from Mycobacterium tuberculosis; glycolipids as adjuvants for cancer vaccines; total synthesis of angucycline antibiotics; carbon monoxide releasing molecules for organ transplant solutions; mannosylation of virus-like particles; and bacterial cell wall skeletons as transporters of small molecules to antigen-presenting cells. He has supervised doctoral theses such as 'Synthesis of oligosaccharides for functionalization of RHDV VLP' (2019) and 'Natural products chemistry of Samoan medicinal plants' (2024). Notable publications include 'Rapid and stereoselective access to 6″-Amino-6″-deoxy-α-GalCer scaffolds' (Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2025), 'Mechanistic insight into the induction of liver tissue-resident memory CD8+ T cells by glycolipid-peptide vaccination' (Cell Reports, 2025, vol. 44), 'The carbon monoxide prodrug oCOm-21 increases Ca2+ sensitivity of the cardiac myofilament' (Physiological Reports, 2024, vol. 12), and 'Carbon monoxide release by oCOm-21 enhances calcium sensitivity of the cardiac myofilament' (Proceedings of the 267th Otago Medical School Research Society Meeting, 2023). Larsen is a Member of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry (MNZIC) and contactable at tel. +64 3 479 7816.