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Grace successfully defends her DPhil thesis!

On Monday 13 February Grace defended her DPhil thesis. She wrote a blog all about the challenges and celebrations of her PhD journey. I began my PhD in Oxford as an Oxford-GSK-Crick Chemical Biology CDT student, with 9 months training in chemical biology through taught courses and two 12-week lab placements. The lab placements were particularly helpful for broadening my skill set, allowing me to try two completely different projects. For one project I spent time at GSK working on photoreactive cyclic peptide probes, and for the other I was studying the effect of tissue stiffness on (myo)fibroblast biology using immortal and primary cell lines. I chose to work in… Read More »Grace successfully defends her DPhil thesis!

Welcome to the group Chris!

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A very warm welcome to Chris Mullins, who joins the group as a PhD student as part of the Molecular Sciences for Medicine (MoSMed) CDT. Chris comes to us from Evox Therapeutics, Oxford where he specialised in the downstream purification of exosomes for rare disease indications. He graduated from The University of Warwick with an MBio in Biochemistry with Industrial Placement, during which he spent 12-months at UCB in Slough developing novel engineered antibody formats. Welcome to the group Chris!

Welcome to the group Rob!

We are excited to welcome Dr. Rob Dawber to group as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. Rob received his MChem degree at the University of Leeds in 2018. In July 2022, Rob completed his PhD at the same institute through the MRC DiMeN DTP programme, where he developed peptidomimetic inhibitors of key protein-protein interactions of the Aurora A kinase under the supervision of Prof. Richard Bayliss and Prof. Andy Wilson. Rob will be investigating lysine demethylases (KDMs) in relation to the chemistry of epigenetics and associated cancers. Welcome Rob!

Summer Newcastle University Chemical Biology Workshop

On Friday 1st July 2022 we hosted the second Chemical biology workshop at Newcastle University Groups from across the faculty of medicine science and the school of natural and environment science presented a quick synopsis of their research with the aim to spark ideas for collaboration and more awareness of the diverse Chem Bio research happening at Newcastle University. Ten academics delivered flash presentations on diverse areas of research (see below). The talks were followed by a poster session where our early career researchers showcased their work and networked with colleagues from across the university. Exploring mechanisms of kinase inhibitor resistance in MYC driven lymphoma, Neil Perkins, FMS Understanding protein… Read More »Summer Newcastle University Chemical Biology Workshop

Welcome to the group Harriet!

A warm welcome to Harriet Stanway-Gordon who started in the group this month.  Harriet undertook her PhD with Prof. Mike Waring in the Medicinal Chemistry group at Newcastle, focusing on the development of micellar-mediated DNA-compatible chemistry for use in DNA-encoded library (DEL) synthesis, where she was involved in the development and optimisation of multiple classes of reactions. Through the application of this methodology, a proposed new class of drug molecules, termed cyclic peptide small molecule hybrids (CyPeMs) can now be constructed within DELs. Harriet has been awarded an EPSRC doctoral prize to expand upon her PhD research, involving the synthesis of CyPeM DELs and subsequent selection against several challenging epigenetic… Read More »Welcome to the group Harriet!

Thesis hand in day for Klem!

Our group member Klemensas Simelis based at Oxford University handed in his thesis this week. Klem’s research looked at the “Development of Chemical Tools for Ten-Eleven Translocation Enzymes”. A summary of his project follows: Methylation of DNA (5-methylcytosine) is an epigenetic mark that typically silences gene expression. Ten-Eleven Translocation enzymes (TETs) oxidise the methyl groups of 5-methylcytosine, forming epigenetic DNA marks with distinct functions and facilitating DNA demethylation by other cellular mechanisms, which restores gene expression. The work discussed in the thesis is focused on: i) broadening the understanding of how these enzymes work using biochemical assays to detect catalytic activity, and ii) developing small molecule and cyclic peptide TET inhibitors… Read More »Thesis hand in day for Klem!

RSC Chemical Biology Symposium

Kawamura group PhD student Grace Roper attended the RSC Chemical Biology Symposium which took place in London on 9th May 2022.  Grace presented her work in collaboration with GSK with a poster on ‘macrocyclic peptides as affinity probes’.  Some brilliant talks and opportunities for networking,  Grace really enjoyed catching up with colleagues from the Oxford-GSK-Crick CDT.  

Congratulations Grace!!

  Many congratulations to group member Grace Roper and her husband Cameron Taylor (a medicinal chemist!) on their wedding!  Thanks for inviting us to share your day. We wish these two wonderfully talented scientists all the best!

CRUK Meeting April 2022

Delighted to host our CRUK Programme meeting in-person after our last  meeting was cancelled due to COVID19.  The meeting took place at Newcastle University on Friday 29th April 2022. Thank you to Prof Chris Schofield and the Oxford team for traveling up to Newcastle, wonderful to catch-up with our Oxford colleagues! We had such a productive time discussing science/ progress of our CRUK work and meeting with the CRUK Newcastle Drug Discovery team. Looking forward to our next meeting in Oxford!  

RSC Interest Group for Chemical Biology and Bioorganic Chemistry Postgraduate Meeting

Some great talks and networking at the Royal Society of Chemistry Interest Group for Chemical Biology and Bioorganic Chemistry postgraduate meeting at York University on 4th April. Great to be back to in-person conferences! It was a great opportunity for our early career researchers to share their latest research with colleagues from across a broad range of chemical biology backgrounds.