Weill Cornell Medical College
Dept of Pharmacology
Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine
1300 York Ave.
NY, NY 10021

Dissertation Research:
PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF BIOACTIVE CONSTITUENTS FROM EDIBLE MYRTACEAE FRUITS

Education
2006 City University of New York Graduate Center. Ph.D. (Biology-Plant Science)
2003 City University of New York Graduate Center. M.Phil. (Plant Science)
1993 University of Wisconsin. Madison, WI. BA (Philosophy)
1990-1991: Madurai Kamraj University, Tamil Nadu, India

Fellowships/Awards
2007-present: Fellow of Medicine, Pharmacology, and Complementary and Integrative Medicine
2001-2006: Individual National Research Service Award (F31AT00801). National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health
2006: University Fellowship, CUNY Graduate Center
2000-2002: CUNY Graduate Center Science Fellowship
2001: Lehman College (CUNY) Plant Science Fellowship
2000-2006: Sue Rosenberg Zalk Student Travel and Research Fund Award, CUNY Graduate Center

Publications
Kurt A. Reynertson, Hui Yang, Bei Jiang, Margaret J. Basile, and Edward J. Kennelly. Quantitative analysis of antiradical phenolic constituents from fourteen edible Myrtaceae fruits. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2006: submitted.

Kurt A. Reynertson, Alison M. Wallace, Seiji Adachi, Roberto R. Gil, Hui Yang, Margaret J. Basile, I. Bernard Weinstein, Jeanine D'Armiento, and Edward J. Kennelly. Bioactive depsides from jaboticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora). Journal of Natural Products 69, 2006: 1228-1230.

Hui Yang, Bei Jiang, Kurt A. Reynertson , Margaret J. Basile, and Edward J. Kennelly. Comparative analyses of bioactive mammea coumarins from seven parts of Mammea americana by HPLC-PDA with LC-MS. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 54, 2006: 4114-4120.

Kurt A. Reynertson, Michael J. Balick, Roberta Lee, William Raynor, Yosio Pelep, and Edward J. Kennelly. A traditional method of Cinnamomum carolinense preparation eliminates safrole from a therapeutic Pohnpean tea. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 102, 2005: 269-274.

Hui Yang, Petr Protiva, Roberto Gil, Bei Jiang, Scott Baggett, Margaret J. Basile, Kurt A. Reynertson, I. Bernard Weinstein, Edward J. Kennelly. Antioxidant and cytotoxic isoprenylated coumarins from Mammea americana. Planta Medica 71, 2005: 852-860.

Kurt A. Reynertson, Margaret J. Basile and Edward J. Kennelly. 2005. Antioxidant potential of seven Myrtaceous fruits. Ethnobotany Research and Applications 3, 2005: 25-36. Available online: http://www.ethnobotanyjournal.org/vol3/I1547-3465-03-025.pdf.

Linda S. Einbond, Kurt A. Reynertson, Xiao-Dong Luo, Margaret J. Basile and Edward J. Kennelly. Anthocyanin antioxidants from edible fruits. Food Chemistry 84, 2004: 23-28.

Kurt A. Reynertson, Xiao-Dong Luo, Margaret J. Basile and Edward J. Kennelly. Analysis of polyphenolic antioxidants found in Myrtaceous fruits. Journal of Herbal Pharmacotherapy 3, 2003: 53-54.

Patents
Jeanine D'Armiento, Edward J. Kennelly, Kurt A. Reynertson, and Alison M. Wallace. 2006. Bioactive depside and anthocyanin compounds, compositions, and methods of use.

Book Reviews
Kurt A. Reynertson. The Everglades Handbook. Understanding the Ecosystem. Second Edition. Thomas E. Lodge. CRC Press. Economic Botany 59, 2005: 299.
Kurt A. Reynertson. Plants That Fight Cancer. S.E. Kintzios and M.G. Barberaki, eds. CRC Press. Economic Botany 59, 2005: 201.
Kurt A. Reynertson. Taxus. The genus Taxus, K.H. Lee, H. Itokawa, eds. CRC Press. Economic Botany 59, 2005: 87-88.
Kurt A. Reynertson. PhytoChem Australia: A Database on Australian Plant Chemistry 1940-2000 . [CD-ROM] CSIRO Publishing. Economic Botany 58, 2004: 504.

Presentations/Posters
Hui Yang, Bei Jiang, Kurt A. Reynertson, Margaret J. Basile and Edward J. Kennelly. Comparative analyses by HPLC-PDA and LC-MS of bioactive isoprenylated coumarins from seven parts of Mammea americana. American Society of Pharmacognosy 46th Annual Meeting (Corvallis, OR; July 2005). poster presented by Hui Yang

Kurt A. Reynertson, Michael J. Balick, Roberta Lee, William Raynor, Tamara Balick, and Edward J. Kennelly. Safrole content of a traditional Micronesian tea. International Congress on Natural Products Research (Phoenix, AZ; August 2004). poster

Mauricio Alvarez, Kurt A. Reynertson, Scott Baggett, Jun Ma and Edward J. Kennelly. Antioxidant activity and epicatechin content of eight cultivars of taro (Colocasia esculenta). International Congress on Natural Products Research (Phoenix, AZ; August 2004). poster

Kurt A. Reynertson, Margaret J. Basile and Edward J. Kennelly. American Society of Pharmacognosy 44th Annual Meeting (Chapell Hill, NC; July 2003). Anthocyanin antioxidants from jaboticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora). poster

Nat Bletter, Kurt A. Reynertson and Julie Velasquez-Runk. Artificae Plantae: The taxonomy, ecology, and ethnobotany of the Simulacraceae. Society for Economic Botany 43rd Annual Meeting (New York City, NY; June 2002). oral

Kurt A. Reynertson, Xiao-Dong Luo, Margaret J. Basile and Edward J. Kennelly. Second International Scientific Conference on Complementary, Alternative and Integrative Medical Research (Boston, MA; April 2002). Analysis of polyphenolic antioxidants found in Myrtaceous fruits. poster

Kurt A. Reynertson, Margaret J. Basile and Edward J. Kennelly. Building Bridges with Traditional Knowledge Summit (Honolulu, HI; June 2001). Antioxidant polyphenols from fruits of the Myrtaceae: A chemotaxonomic and ethnomedical approach to discovery. oral

Training Courses
Waters Millenium32 HPLC-PDA Course
Thermo Finnigan LCQ (LC-MS) Operations Training Course
University of Florida – Fairchild Tropical Garden Tropical Botany course

Teaching Experience
2005. Lehman College, City University of New York.
Adjunct Lecturer, Biology Department. Biochemistry laboratory (undergraduate & Masters).

January 2000 to 2002. Lehman College, City University of New York.
Adjunct Lecturer, Biology Department. General Biology (undergraduate) lecture and laboratory sections.

August 97 to June 98, Socrates Sculpture Park. Astoria Queens, NY.
Garden Educator. Created lesson plans and activities for 25 middle-school kids combining gardening, ecology and art.

Field Experience
May 2003. Southern Florida. Fruit collection for Antioxidants from Tropical Fruits project.

July 2002. University of Florida – Fairchild Tropical Garden Tropical Botany course taught by Dr. Walter Judd. Research topic: Taxonomic placement of Syzygium in relation to Myrtoid fruits. Fruit collection: several Myrtaceae species.

April 2000. Southern Florida. Fruit collection: Eugenia, Syzygium and Myrciaria species.

November 1994 to March 1995. Tamil Nadu and Kerala, India. Preliminary contacts to research alternative agriculture, ecology and ethnobotany of the Western Ghats in southern India.

August 1990 to July 1991. Madurai, Tamil Nadu. India. Undergraduate research on the botanical, ecological and sociopolitical impacts of the Green Revolution on local agricultural practices.

Other Related Experience
2000-present Society for Economic Botany Newsletter Committee
2000-2006 Greenhouse Technician, Lehman College
2000-2005 Society for Economic Botany Student Committee
2001-2003 CUNY Biology Program Executive Committee Member
2001-2003 CUNY Plant Science Subprogram Advisory Board Member

Skills
Expertise in natural product isolation, qualitative and quantitative analysis using analytical and preparative-scale HPLC, open-column chromatography, VLC, TLC, etc. Proficient in compound structural elucidation using1D- and 2D-NMR and LC-MS. Experienced in the maintenance of Waters Alliance 2690 HPLC systems, Thermo Finnigan LCQ, and Bruker Avance 300 MHz NMR. Good troubleshooting and problem solving skills. Strong background in writing and editing. Some experience in CG analysis. Botanical skills include plant collecting and identification, micropropagation, greenhouse management, and outdoor gardening. Computer literate on both the Mac and PC platforms.

Professional Memberships
American Society of Pharmacognosy
Society for Economic Botany
American Chemical Society
New York Academy of Sciences
Sigma Xi
American Botanical Council

Other Languages Spoken/Written
Danish, Tamil, German

Other Interests/Links
Economic Botany grant links
CUNY Plant Science PhD Program
Random Botany links
Surfing! NYC is on the Atlantic Ocean!
Founding Director of Booklyn Artist Alliance, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization promoting the art of the book.
Gallery of Myrtaceae images (coming soon)

Dissertation Research:
PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF BIOACTIVE CONSTITUENTS FROM EDIBLE MYRTACEAE FRUITS

plant collecting in southern Florida