While the iconic double helix structure of DNA encoding the blueprint of life is a familiar idea, and the genetic code well established, the epigenetic code is a much newer and more controversial concept. Epigenetics refers to heritable changes characteristics that can be influences by the environment, but which do not result from changes in the genetic code. Meaning literally “above genetics”, epigenetics is an area of intense interest in medicinal chemistry, biology, and medicine. In the latest public lecture Professor Stuart Conway will introduce current understanding of the molecular basis of epigenetic processes, and explain how these findings are being exploited in medicinal chemistry to develop medicines with innovative new mechanisms of action.
Stuart Conway is a Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Oxford, and the E. P. Abraham Cephalosporin Fellow in Organic Chemistry at St Hugh's College, Oxford. He studied Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Warwick before undertaking PhD studies with Professor David Jane in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Bristol. Stuart completed post-doctoral studies with Professor Andrew Holmes FRS at the University of Cambridge working on the synthesis of inositol polyphosphates. In 2003, he was appointed as a Lecturer in Bioorganic Chemistry at the University of St Andrews, in 2008 was appointed as an Associate Professor at Oxford, and in October 2014 he was promoted to Full Professor. Between March and August 2013 Stuart was a Visiting Associate at the California Institute of Technology, hosted by Professor Bob Grubbs and Professor Dianne Newman. Stuart's research focuses on the development of molecular tools to enable the study of biological systems. This work has been recognised by the award of the 2012 Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist in Academia by the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry, and the 2016 Lectureship of the Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Section of the RSC.
Stuart Conway is a Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Oxford, and the E. P. Abraham Cephalosporin Fellow in Organic Chemistry at St Hugh's College, Oxford. He studied Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Warwick before undertaking PhD studies with Professor David Jane in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Bristol. Stuart completed post-doctoral studies with Professor Andrew Holmes FRS at the University of Cambridge working on the synthesis of inositol polyphosphates. In 2003, he was appointed as a Lecturer in Bioorganic Chemistry at the University of St Andrews, in 2008 was appointed as an Associate Professor at Oxford, and in October 2014 he was promoted to Full Professor. Between March and August 2013 Stuart was a Visiting Associate at the California Institute of Technology, hosted by Professor Bob Grubbs and Professor Dianne Newman. Stuart's research focuses on the development of molecular tools to enable the study of biological systems. This work has been recognised by the award of the 2012 Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist in Academia by the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry, and the 2016 Lectureship of the Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Section of the RSC.
