Skip to content

Conference

Emma’s Research Wins Award at EPSC 2025

We’re thrilled to share that our PhD student Emma Wadworth presented her research at the European Peptide Synthesis Conference (EPSC) 2025, held in August 25–27 in Porto, Portugal.   This prestigious event brings together leading scientists and innovators from across Europe to explore the latest advancements in peptide synthesis, including high-throughput strategies, protein production, and cGMP applications.  As well as showcasing her PhD research to conference delegates, Emma won an award for her poster on developing and optimising cyclic peptide inhibitors against human neuraminidases. Congratulations Emma!  

Showcasing Research at PPSG 2025 Conference

In July, members of our team—Dr Robert Dawber, Tim Bell, and Keir Pebody—attended the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Protein and Peptide Science Group (PPSG) 2025 Early Stage Researcher Meeting in Birmingham.   The conference provided a platform for early career researchers to present their work, exchange ideas, and build connections within the scientific community. We’re proud to share that both Rob and Tim presented their research findings, contributing to the discussions that make PPSG a valuable experience for young researchers.  Tim’s talk presented his PhD work involving peptide arrays for informing chemokine PPIs and Probe Development. Meanwhile, Rob’s poster described his work to develop new methods to study how post-translational modifications… Read More »Showcasing Research at PPSG 2025 Conference

Joanna Delivers Talk at the RSC Chem Bio Symposium 2025

In London, the RSC’s Chemical Biology Symposium 2025 showcased the latest advancements in chemical biology, bringing together leading experts from around the world. We’re delighted that Dr Joanna Bonnici‘s flash talk, “JmjC catalysed histone H2a N-methyl arginine demethylation & C4-arginine hydroxylation,” was featured within this event, alongside her poster on this work.  “It was fantastic to finally be able to present, share and discuss my recent publication. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was inspiring to learn from, and connect with, leaders in the field – all within such a historic and beautiful venue.” – Joanna Bonnici  The paper (Bonnici J, et al. Commun Biol. 2024 ) is available to read… Read More »Joanna Delivers Talk at the RSC Chem Bio Symposium 2025

MoSMed CDT Conference 2025

In April, our team members attended the annual MoSMed CDT Conference at Durham University, an event funded by EPSRC that brings together doctoral students to discuss and explore molecular science for medicine.  The conference was a vibrant showcase of cutting-edge research, featuring project presentations, flash talks from PhD students, and keynote sessions from leading experts. We’re especially proud of Keir Pebody,  who earned Runner-up Best Flash Talk – a fantastic recognition of his work and presentation skills.   It was also a great opportunity to see Siddique Amin, a former PhD student from the Kawamura Research Group, now mentoring Keir as his supervisor at AstraZeneca.   Looking forward to what MoSMed 2026… Read More »MoSMed CDT Conference 2025

NU Chemistry and Alumni Research Symposium 2025

Our team participated in the Newcastle University Chemistry and Alumni Research Symposium – a fantastic event celebrating the breadth and depth of research across the Chemistry Department in the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences.  PhD student Tom Smith delivered an insightful talk on the role of mRNA-display library bias in hit generation campaigns, shedding light on a key factor influencing cyclic peptide drug discovery outcomes.   Meanwhile, two of our PhD student researchers showcased their work through poster presentations:  Emma Wadforth presented on Developing Cyclic Peptide Probes for Investigation of Human Neuraminidase Isoforms  Tim Bell shared his research on Peptide Technologies to Probe Chemokine Specificity.    This symposium provides a… Read More »NU Chemistry and Alumni Research Symposium 2025

Newcastle Chemical Biology Workshop 2025

On 14th February, Newcastle University hosted a half-day Chemical Biology Workshop, in conjunction with the Babraham Institute in Cambridge.    The workshop featured two guest speakers from the Babraham: Dr Maria Christophorou who spoke about protein citrullination, and Dr Jonathan Clark who spoke about the chemistry of tendon collagen.    The other speakers included: Prof Paula Salgado (Professor of Structural Microbiology, Newcastle University); Dr Will Stanley (Associate Principal Scientist; Iksuda Therapeutics); Dr Jem Stach (Senior Lecturer, Newcastle University); and, Dr Katherine Duncan (Senior Lecturer, Newcastle University).    Thanks to the CONNECT fund, a Flexible Talent and Mobility award (FTMA) from UKRI’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), which supported… Read More »Newcastle Chemical Biology Workshop 2025

Attending the RICT2024 in Bordeaux

Akane Kawamura, Siddique Amin and Filomena Saulino attended the RICT2024 (the 58th International Conference on Medicinal Chemistry) held in Bordeaux this July – a conference focused on the intersection of chemical biology and drug discovery.  Akane Kawamura gave a talk on cyclic peptides as chemical tools to probe biology, and our PhD Students presented their posters relating to work on cyclic peptides (Siddique), and inhibitor development against epigenetic reader domains (Filomena).   The event was a fantastic experience, with plenty of discussions with other medicinal chemists and chemical biologists from around the globe.  

Down Under at the International Peptide Symposium

Prof Akane Kawamura travelled down under in October 2023 to talk about peptide probes for studying epigenetic proteins at the 13th International Peptide Symposium in Brisbane Australia.   A special thanks to the organisers for this great opportunity to meet with peptide and protein chemists, old friends and collaborators, and many new faces.   

Klem Simelis Presents his Work at RSC Chemical Biology Conference, Ireland

Earlier this week, Klem attended the RSC ChemBio conference in Ireland where he presented his DPhil work on the characterisation of TET enzyme bimodal activity, highlighting previously unappreciated poor coupling of 5-methylcytosine hydroxylase and 2-OG decarboxylase enzyme activities, which may have implications for the control of TCA cycle intermediate formation and inhibitor development. 

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