Speakers
The following scientists have accepted invitations to speak at the forthcoming GP2A conference in Liverpool.
Dr Lorenzo Caggiano
Lorenzo Caggiano graduated from the University of Cambridge with a PhD in the synthesis of highly substituted pyrrolidines and piperidines by a novel silica gel-induced reaction. Following post-doctoral work at the Università degli Studi di Milano and the University of Sheffield, he was appointed as RCUK Fellow in Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Bath where he now holds a Senior Lectureship in the Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology. He is also Director of Studies for Postgraduate Research Students. His research focusses on the rational design, efficient synthesis and biological evaluation of novel biologically active molecules inspired by natural products.
Dr Celine Cano
Celine is currently a Reader in Medicinal Chemistry at Newcastle University. She graduated from the University of Poitiers receiving her Ph.D. in 2004 for her work on the synthesis of biomolecules by 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions with carbohydrates. Following post-doctoral research at the University of Manchester working on the synthesis of analogues of cofactors of oxomolybdoenzymes, she joined the Northern Institute for Cancer Research at Newcastle University as a research fellow. She was appointed to a lectureship in Medicinal Chemistry at Newcastle in 2008 and has since played a key role in helping to establish Newcastle as an internationally recognised centre for anti-cancer drug discovery. Celine was awarded the Elsevier Reaxys 2016 Prize for Medicinal Chemistry in recognition of her research into anticancer drug discovery. She is the academic lead for the Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology Group within the School of Chemistry.
Professor Olivier Duval
Olivier Duval is Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in the Faculté de Pharmacie, Université d’Angers and the immediate Past President of GP2A. He was Director of the UFR Sciences Pharmaceutiques et Ingénierie de la Santé in Angers from 2007 to 2015. His research interests include synthesis of heterocyclic bioactive natural products, siderophores and new strategies for selective drug delivery.
Dr Jean-Jacques Hélesbeux
Having studied chemistry at the University of Rennes 1, Jean-Jacques Hélesbeux completed his PhD focusing on the photooxygenation of prenylated polyphenols at the University of Angers in 2002. Then he worked on the synthesis of polyamides as DNA minor groove binders during a postdoctoral position at the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow) under the supervision of Pr Roger Waigh. He came back to Angers and joined the School of pharmacy as a lecturer in organic chemistry in 2006. Since then, his research interests focus on the chemistry of natural products and their pharmacological potential. He currently works on the design of vitamin E analogs and the development of semisynthetic strategies towards original anti-inflammatory agents.
Professor Joachim Jose
Joachim Jose graduated at the University Saarbrücken in 1994 with a thesis on the structure and reaction mechanism of bacterial ureases. He was a Post-Doc at the MPI for Biology, Tübingen, and the MPI for Infection Biology, Berlin, where he was mainly involved in the discovery of a new family of secreted proteins: the autotransporters.
After his Habilitation in the group of Rolf Hartmann, Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, University Saarbrücken, he accepted an offer of the Heinrich‐Heine‐University, Düsseldorf, for an Associate Professor in Bioanalytics in 2004. Since 2011, he is full professor (W3) and Chair for Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry at the PharmaCampus of the Westfälische Wilhelms‐Universität, Münster. His research mainly focusses on the application of “autodisplay”, a surface display technology, for drug discovery purposes, incl. evolutive drug design, expression of challenging enzymes and new inhibitors for targeting protein-protein interactions.
Professor Pascal Marchand
Pascal Marchand obtained his PhD in medicinal chemistry on the synthesis and biological evaluation of indole derivatives as immunosuppressive and anti-cancer agents and his Habilitation in the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of azaheterocyclic compounds. He is currently a full Professor of Organic Chemistry in the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Université de Nantes. His active research is focussed on the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of heterocyclic compounds for therapeutic purposes (cancer, mycology and parasitology), inhibitors of kinase signalling pathways and ADMET properties of molecules of biological interest.
Dr Gerard McGlacken
Gerard obtained his B.Sc. and PhD at the National University of Ireland, Galway, where he focused on hydrazones as building blocks for asymmetric synthesis. Following post-doctoral work at the University of York he took up a 'Molecular Design and Synthesis Post-Doctoral Fellowship' at Florida State University working with Prof. Robert A. Holton on the total synthesis of the large polyether antibiotic lonomycin A. He moved to University College Cork in 2007 to take up a lectureship. His current research is in the area of organic synthesis applied to biologically significant molecules. En route to these compounds, novel methodology involving organometallic and asymmetric synthesis is being employed.
Professor Paul O’Neill
Paul O'Neill graduated from the University of Liverpool in Chemistry & Pharmacology. He was Roche Lecturer in Medicinal Chemistry in the Department of Pharmacology at Liverpool from 1995-96. In 1997, he carried out postdoctoral research with Professor Gary H. Posner at the Johns Hopkins University, USA. In 1998, he was appointed to a joint lectureship in the Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacology at Liverpool and progressed to Professor. He works in several areas of synthetic organic chemistry and pharmacology, with a strong emphasis on drug design, chemical biology and medicinal chemistry of antimalarial and anticancer drugs.
Professor Maria-João R. P. Queiroz
Maria-João Queiroz completed her first degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences in the University of Porto-Portugal (1986), PhD in Organic Chemistry (1993) in the University of Minho- Portugal and carried out postdoctoral studies in the University of Metz-France (1994). She is Coordinator Researcher since June 2009 and she was the director of the Chemistry Research Centre of the University of Minho from January 2010 to March 2015. Her research led to the award of the Programa Gulbenkian Estimulo à Investigação prize in 2001. She has a wide range of research interests in medicinal and organic chemistry, including bioactive natural products, photochemistry, heterocyclic drugs for treatment of breast cancer and nanoparticles for drug delivery.
Professor Satyajit Sarker
Satyajit Sarker obtained his BPharm and MPharm degrees from the University of Dhaka and his PhD in phytochemistry from the University of Strathclyde. Following post-doctoral positions at the University of Exeter and Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Aberystwyth, he took a lectureship at Robert Gordon University, followed by a readership at the University of Ulster and chair at the University of Wolverhampton. Since 2013, he has been the Director of the School of Pharmacy & Biomolecular Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University. His research focusses on the chemistry of pharmaceuticals and natural products. He also works on rational drug design, with a particular emphasis on anticancer, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of compounds from higher plants and synthetic organic compounds. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Phytochemical Analysis and is Vice-President of the Phytochemical Society of Europe.
Professor Sophie Tomasi
Sophie Tomasi graduated from the Université de Rennes 1 with a PhD on the synthesis of antiproliferative polyamine–heterocycle conjugates. Following post-doctoral work at the University of Canberra on phytochemical studies of microfungi, she was appointed to the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Université de Rennes 1, where she is a full Professor of Pharmacognosy. Her research focusses on lichen-associated bacteria as source of bioactive compounds, chemical studies of lichens for isolation of active metabolites, the development of innovative extraction methods and the design of derivatives of lichen natural products.
Professor Andrew Westwell
Andrew Westwell graduated from the University of Leeds with a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry. After postdoctoral work at Loughborough University, he was appointed as a Research Fellow in the Cancer Research Laboratories at the University of Nottingham. He was appointed to a Cancer Research UK-funded Lectureship in 2001 in the School of Pharmacy at Nottingham. From here, he moved to the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Science at Cardiff University in 2006, where he is now Professor in Medicinal Chemistry. His research focusses on discovery of new anticancer drugs, 18F PET radiochemistry and chemical analysis of new psychoactive substances.
