Jasper Murphy Email & Phone Number

Having finished my MSc in Pharmaceutical Science and Medicinal Chemistry at Loughborough University, I am looking forward to applying my skills in a PhD programme at De Montfort University. My PhD will be based on building up and carrying out biological assays on a library of compounds for the treatment of various neglected tropical diseases, such as Chagas disease, Human African Trypanosomiasis and Leishmaniasis. I chose to study Pharmaceutical Science and Medicinal Chemistry at Loughborough University as I felt it aligned with my aspirations. The programme at Loughborough provided me with a lot of experience in research and further enhanced my analytical chemistry skills, an area which before my MSc I believed needed improvement to help round out my skills as a lab-based researcher.Before my MSc, I spent three years at the University of Nottingham conducting my BSc in Chemistry. A highlight of the course for me was my third-year Chemistry project which focused on building up a biaryl library of 18 compounds using the Suzuki cross-coupling reaction. The scientific process of this research and working collaboratively is what I enjoyed the most and confirmed to me that when I feel involved in something like research, I take great pleasure from it. By far my favourite modules during my course were those related to Organic synthesis and Drug Design and knew this was something I would like to pursue in further studies.During my time at Kindeva, a company that specialises in drug delivery, as an MSc placement student I conducted research aimed at optimising the testing of inhalers in the pharmaceutical industry. This experience deepened my understanding of the devices/technology specific to this industry and of analytic techniques such as High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Most of all, however, this experience allowed me to apply the skills I had attained during both my degrees and apply them in a research environment outside of academia. I found significant disparities in research practices between academia and the industry. However, it offered me experiences I might not have gained through an internal placement.