Richard van Breemen is Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy, serves on the faculty of the Linus Pauling Institute, and is a founding member of the Global Hemp Innovation Center at Oregon State University. Richard received his B.A. in chemistry from Oberlin College in 1980 and his Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with Catherine Fenselau in 1985. He then carried out post-doctoral research in laser desorption mass spectrometry at Johns Hopkins University with Robert Cotter. After teaching chemistry at North Carolina State University and medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Richard joined the faculty of Oregon State University and the Linus Pauling Institute in 2018.

Previously, Richard received the Harvey W. Wiley Award from the AOAC International in 2008, the Varro E. Tyler Prize from the American Society of Pharmacognosy in 2017, Researcher of the Year at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2015, and the Oregon State University Impact Award for Outstanding Scholarship in 2023. Richard is a Fellow of the International Carotenoid Society and the AOAC International and is a member of the USP Dietary Supplements Admission, Evaluation, & Labeling Expert Committee. He has served on several scientific journal editorial boards including the Journal of AOAC International,  Biomedical Chromatography, Combinatorial Chemistry and High Throughput Screening, and Assay and Drug Development Technologies.

Richard’s research concerns the discovery of pharmacologically active natural products using affinity selection-mass spectrometry, the discovery and development of natural products that prevent cancer and neurological degenerative diseases, and the safety and efficacy of botanical dietary supplements, especially those used by menopausal women. His research group pioneered several affinity-selection mass spectrometry drug discovery techniques including pulsed ulrafiltration and magnetic microbead affinity selection screening. He has published over 400 research papers and book chapters concerning natural products, botanical dietary supplements and the use of mass spectrometry for drug discovery and development from natural product sources, and he has mentored over 80 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.