Postdoctoral Research Scientist in medicinal chemistry at Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR).

My research is focused on the design and synthesis of novel activity-based probes for deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs). Ubiquitination is a post-translational modification which utilises mono or poly ubiquitin conjugates as a means of cellular signalling, including induction of proteasomal degradation. DUBs reverse these post-translational modifications by cleaving the isopeptide bonds of substrate proteins and in doing so contribute to cellular homeostasis. However, aberrant regulation of DUBs have been implicated in the proliferation of multiple diseases including several variants of cancer. As such, there is significant need to develop new chemical tools with which to improve our understanding of DUB activity. I am interested in developing innovative strategies in activity-based probe design in relation to DUBs. Chemical biology presents a fascinating setting in which the principles of synthetic organic chemistry can be applied to answer interesting questions in human biology.

Joining the research group of Professor Sander van Kasteren, I will be applying chemical probes developed in the McGouran lab at Trinity College Dublin to perform protein profiling experiments in live cells.

At Vernalis I was responsible for designing and implementing synthetic strategies to enable the development of novel small molecule therapeutics from a fragment based drug design platform. In this role I became adept in a wide variety of synthetic manipulations, purification techniques and characterisation tools. Additionally, I coordinated a broad range of related research tasks within projects including management and optimisation of distinct chemical series. I worked closely with representatives from other departments to achieve project aims and learn new techniques. I used PyMol molecular modelling software to support my design efforts, Reaxys and SciFinder to inform my synthetic strategies, MestreNova to support compound characterisation and IDBS E-Workbook Suite to record my experimental data.In order to make further contributions to the research community at Vernalis I acted as a mentor for visiting students in the chemistry laboratories, arranged talks from visiting academics, pioneered testing of new equipment and ran a series of synthetic chemistry workshops.In my role I worked in collaboration with several internationally renowned pharmaceutical companies and was responsible for presenting regular project updates, detailing my latest findings and rationalising strategies for future work. Publications resulting from these collaborations include my contributions as a co-author on the development of PDHK inhibitors (J. Med. Chem.2017, 60, 6, 2271-2286) and as one of the inventors of a novel series of alpha-amino amide LpxC inhibitors (GB2562777A).

Operated in the analytical chemistry laboratories of Nestlé UK as a temporary contractor through SRG. Carried out standard laboratory tests to validate the nutritional content of a variety of commercial products.

During this summer placement I was responsible for providing analytical services to validate the physical and chemical stability of new products under the 'Nurofen' brand. I utilised a variety of analytical techniques in this position, most commonly reverse phase HPLC.