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Joanna at the 2020 International Symposium on Chemical Biology in Geneva

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I was delighted to attend the 2020 International Symposium on Chemical Biology in Geneva from 22–24 January and to represent the Kawamura and Schofield groups. With over 200 researchers in attendance, including 15 international leaders in science from all over the world, the conference was an outstanding success. It was exciting to be among such a varied group of scientists, all working under the ever-growing umbrella of chemical biology. The talks, presentations and lively discussions covered a wide variety of interesting topics such as biosynthesis and genetic code expansion. These have broadened my perspective and made me even more excited about being a chemical biologist. It was an honour to… Read More »Joanna at the 2020 International Symposium on Chemical Biology in Geneva

Book Chapter – Chemical Epigenetics edited by Antonello Mai

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Delighted to contribute two chapters in Chemical Epigenetics in Topics in Medicinal Chemistry book series edited by Prof. Antonello Mai. Our review on “Inhibitors of JmjC-containing Histone Demethylases” by Miranda Wright, together with Prof. Paul Brennan (Target Discovery Institute, Oxford), focuses on the recent advances in JmjC-KDM inhibitor development from a structural perspective. In “Chemical Compounds Targeting DNA Methylation and Hydroxymethylation” by Roman Bell, together with Dr Paola Arimondo (Institut Pasteur, Paris), we review the recent developments in DNMT and TET inhibitors.  

Chemical Biology and Bio-Organic Group (CBBG) Forum

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I was very pleased to have the opportunity to talk at the CBBG forum in Leicester at the Institute of Structural and Chemical Biology, very well co-organised by former Oxford colleague Richard Hopkinson. I spoke about our work on cyclic peptides binding to PHD2, as published in Chemical Science, and some more recent follow-up work. This was a great meeting; an excellent day of Chemical Biology talks and posters, as well as a chance to network, catching up with some people I already knew and making some new contacts. (Blog by Tom McAllister)

Paper in Oncogene

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Paper in Oncogene – Systematic characterization of chromatin modifying enzymes identifies KDM3B as a critical regulator in castration resistant prostate cancer. Our collaborative work with Dr Nathan Lack’s laboratory (Koç University / Turkey and Vancouver Prostate Centre /Canada) is finally out! Hilal Saraç has led this study on how KDM3B has been identified to be important in the proliferation of castrate resistant prostate cancers. This work was funded by the Royal Society Newton Advance Fellowship. Hilal’s beautiful waterfall plot figure – epigenetic shRNA library screening identifies KDM3B (red) to be essential for CRPC proliferation 

Kawamura Group leaving do (though not quite leaving yet)

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After a few long days of packing the labs in Oxford, it was lovely to see so many people from the CRL come together for a few drinks and a relax at the Oxford Wine Café – including old group members – thank you for joining us!

Lab refurb

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Benches and shelves are up – starting to look like a lab! Very exciting.

Dr Roman Belle

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Many Congratulations to Roman Belle for successfully defending his DPhil thesis titled “Histone Lysine and DNA Methylation: Dynamic Marks in the Chromatin”! Thanks to Dr Paola Arimondo from Institute Pasteur and James McCullagh for being his examiners.

GSK Emerging Academics Symposium 2019 (Stevenage)

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Very honoured to speak at the GSK Emerging Academics Symposium 2019. Great to meet GSK scientists and UK academics, and to have the opportunity to present our work on epigenetic chemical probes.