Campbell Eckhardt, a rising second-year graduate student in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy Department of Medicinal Chemistry, has been selected for a 2025 National Science Foundation, or NSF, Graduate Research Fellowship Program award. The fellowship is given annually to promising graduate students pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree in the STEM fields.
Eckhardt’s research focuses on the evolutionary and regulatory dimensions of natural products, compounds with diverse ecological roles and broad biomedical potential. He integrates enzymology, synthetic biology and artificial intelligence to identify and characterize the biosynthetic gene clusters responsible for producing these complex molecules.
As an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program awardee, Eckhardt will receive a $37,000 annual stipend and a $16,000 cost-of-education allowance for three years, covering his tuition and mandatory fees.
“Winning this award is a meaningful recognition of both my individual efforts and the collaborative contributions of the research teams I am privileged to work alongside,” Eckhard said. “It provides the support and flexibility to pursue ambitious, high-impact research early in my career while laying a strong foundation for long-term scientific growth.”
Eckhardt’s long-term goal is to lead an academic research program that investigates the evolution and ecological function of natural products while developing new tools for manipulating their biosynthetic pathways. The NSF award supports this path by providing the independence, resources and time to pursue high-risk, high-reward research and to strengthen his scientific and professional development.
Yousong Ding, Ph.D., an associate professor of medicinal chemistry in the UF College of Pharmacy, serves as Eckhardt’s mentor.