Medicinal Chemistry Residential School 2019

I have a MSc in Pharmaceutical bioscience from The University of Gothenburg and joined AstraZeneca in 2003 working as a Research Scientist in the DMPK & Bioanalytical Chemistry department within CVGI therapy area. Following the completion of my PhD (Experimental and computational investigation of affinity and selectivity factors in CYP2D6 and CYP3A4 mediated metabolism) from The University of Gothenburg Division of Medicinal Chemistry in 2010, I returned to AstraZeneca as a biotransformation scientist. In this role I supported both preclinical and clinical projects with biotransformation expertise. I progressed to positions as DMPK scientific lead in both oral and inhaled preclinical discovery projects as well as DMPK project lead in development programs entering clinical phase. Within these roles I have gained extensive knowledge in drug discovery processes, strategies to optimize drug project delivery and broaden my knowledge within other scientific disciplines. Currently I am leading a team of DMPK design leads and biotransformation scientists within respiratory and inflammation therapy area.
From my >10 years in pharma industry I have a strong scientific background within metabolism and pharmacokinetics and extensive experience within drug discovery from project work both in discovery and development settings.
 

Simon Campbell is a synthetic organic chemist who received his PhD from the University of Birmingham in 1965 followed by postdoctoral appointments in Chile and Stanford.  From 1969 to 1972, he was Visiting Professor at the Universidade do Sao Paulo in Brazil, and then returned to the UK to join Pfizer Central Research in Sandwich.  Sir Simon retired from Pfizer in 1998 as Senior Vice President for Worldwide Discovery and Medicinals R&D Europe.  He has co-authored over 120 publications and patents, and was a key member of the research teams that discovered CarduraTM, NorvascTM, and Viagra.TM
 
Dr Campbell’s scientific contributions have been recognised by the RSC Award for Medicinal Chemistry (1989), the Herschberg Award from the American Chemical Society (1997), the Industrial Research Institute (US) Achievement Award (1997), the CIA Individual Achievement Award (2006), Galen Medal (2007), Sir James Black Award for Drug Discovery (2012) and was given a Lifetime Achievement Award from the BMC Sector of the RSC.  He was elected FRS (1999), FMedSci (2002) and was appointed CBE in 2006 for “Services to Science” followed by a knighthood in 2015 for “Services to Chemistry”. Sir Simon was named at number 31 in the Times Eureka list of 100 top UK scientists for 2010, and was included in the Science Council list of the UK’s 100 practising scientists in 2014
 
Currently, Dr. Campbell is a member of the SABs of Astex (Cambridge), Bionomics (Adelaide) Calibr (San Diego) CTx (Melbourne), H3-D (Cape Town), MRCT (London) and the TB Alliance (Seattle).  He has acted as consultant to Abingworth Management, CRUK, DNDi, MMV, Novo Seeds, Sofinnova and the Wellcome Trust, and also works with CNPq/FAPESP in Brazil.  He is a past President of the RSC and has served on the RS Council and Finance and Industry Committees, and was the first chair of the Expert Scientific Advisory Committee for the Medicines for Malaria Venture.

Nessa Carey is a former academic at Imperial College, where she is now a Visiting Professor.  After leaving academia she worked for 13 years in a variety of senior scientific roles in 3 biotech companies and at Pfizer.  She specialised in epigenetic drug discovery, at the most innovative period in this field.  Nessa now trains people all over the world in how to translate basic research into commercial opportunities.  She consults for leading UK research organisations, has performed a number of roles for 2 of the UK’s major research councils and is on the scientific advisory board of 2 big data biotech companies.  Nessa also writes popular science books.

Andy has been a member of the AstraZeneca IP team since 2010, and is responsible for a number of late-stage and on-market products. Prior to that, he worked as a Team Leader in Medicinal Chemistry and as an LI Project Leader and LO Deputy Project Leader at AstraZeneca Charnwood. In an earlier phase of his life, Andy studied Law at the University of Oxford before spending seven years as an employment lawyer for a UK law firm.  He obtained his first degree in Chemistry at the Open University and his PhD at the University of Leeds

I received an MChem from the University of Bath and obtained my PhD under the supervision of Professor Paul Raithby and Professor Matthew Davidson, also at Bath. I began my research career working as a crystallographer for Pfizer in Sandwich.  I have now been at Pfizer for 10 years and am currently working in Pharmaceutical Sciences. I mostly work on developing dosage forms for drug candidates. This includes using molecular modelling, obtaining crystallographic data and statistical analyses of structural information to design a program of action and guide dosage form development for these projects as well as guiding the experimental screening, characterisation and analysis of these candidates. This can be on candidates from early research (before first in human studies) through to Phase III clinical trial candidates. I am Chair of the British Crystallographic Association Industrial Group, a chartered member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and sit on the Diamond Light Source (Synchrotron) Industrial Science Committee.

Computational chemist with more than thirty years’ industrial experience in lead-based and structure-based drug discovery. Expert in the application of computational techniques to drug design.  Good communicator of concepts and ideas.  Used to working with small teams facing many demands from international customers.  Experience of participating in and leading therapeutic projects from target selection through to Phase II and of supporting manufacturing processes.

Following a PhD and post doc in chemistry, David joined Pfizer, Sandwich in 1993 as a medicinal chemistry team leader. During his career at Pfizer, he headed-up chemistry sections working in a range of therapeutic areas including Anti-Virals and Cardiovascular. He has been directly involved in the identification of eleven development candidates from eight mechanistic classes, including four Phase 2 compounds and is co-author of over 40 publications and reviews and a named inventor on 16 patents.
 
Between 2011-2016, David took-up a part-time role with the RSC as Industry Associate. David has also set-up a consultancy company Vulpine Science and Learning and he has been Visiting Professor at the Universities of Reading and Leeds and currently works closely with Imperial College, London and the Universities of Birmingham and Bristol.
 

Darren Green is Director of Molecular Design and Senior Fellow, GlaxoSmithKline. Based at Stevenage UK, his group specialises in the application of molecular design, data analysis, predictive modelling and chemoinformatics methods to drug discovery.
Darren has a PhD in Theoretical Chemistry from the University of Manchester. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and chair of the Advisory Board for the Hartree Centre, the UK national laboratory for high performance computing, simulation and cognitive science.

Dr Nicole Hamblin joined Charles River in 2017 as a Senior Director in Chemistry, and is responsible for a team of around forty synthetic, medicinal and computational chemists, delivering drug discovery contract research services to a variety of clients. Prior to taking up this role Nicole gained 20 years of drug discovery and development experience as a medicinal chemist, project leader and Senior Fellow at GlaxoSmithKline, working across a number of different therapy areas and target classes. As project lead for the GSK PI3Kδ inhibitor portfolio, Nicole led the discovery of 3 candidate compounds and the subsequent progression of inhaled asset nemiralisib into Phase IIa clinical trials for respiratory indications. Nicole is co-inventor on 25 patents, covering 8 clinical candidates and has co-authored over 15 peer reviewed publications. In 2014 Nicole won the Royal Society of Chemistry Capps Green Zomaya Award for Medicinal Chemistry and was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2017. She is also a member of the MRC Developmental Pathways Funding Scheme panel which reviews academic grant proposals in the area of translational research. Nicole holds a first class degree and a PhD in Chemistry, both from Oxford University.

Bob graduated in biochemistry from the University of Birmingham, UK and then obtained his Ph.D. in conjunction with industry and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Bob has extensive global experience in Drug Metabolism & Pharmacokinetics,initially working with several European pharmaceutical companies in the UK, transferring to Milan, Italy whilst working with Pharmacia & Upjohn where he directed both discovery and development DMPK efforts for the company. He was then given responsibility for Preclinical Sciences at Pharmacia & Upjohn, Stockholm, Sweden and following the merger of Pharmacia & Upjohn with Searle/Monsanto, Bob moved to the US to head the Pharmacokinetic and Metabolism functions in Skokie and St Louis. During this period Bob contributed to many successful global registrations including Zyvox, Covert, Ellence, Aromasin, Somavert, Inspra and Sutent. From there, and after the acquisition by Pfizer, Bob transferred to Amgen, CA before joining Daiichi Medical Research, NJ and then Roche Palo Alto, CA as Vice President, DMPK. In 2007, Bob founded and became president of a consulting company, RMI-Pharmacokinetics, LLC now based in Carlsbad, CA with clients throughout the US as well as Canada, Europe and Asia.
Bob has been and still is very active in the scientific community, including past Chairperson of the DMDG (UK), and joint founder of the societies, PK-UK and DMDG (Italy). He is the author of over 80 publications, including several book chapters on pharmacokinetics and a recent review on microdosing. In addition, he has given over 120 presentations on pharmacokinetics and metabolism at major scientific meetings throughout the world and been responsible for developing numerous training courses.
 

Mike is Senior Director for Nonclinical Safety at GSK with responsibility for Immuno-Inflammation, Discovery Partnerships with Academia and the Academic Discovery Performance Unit. He has worked at CRO and small biotech as well as in industrial toxicology.
 
Mike has supported the development of small molecules, biopharmaceuticals and oligonucleotides at all stages of development including MAA and NDA.

Dr Ruth Lock has over 19 years of experience in DMPK and Clinical Pharmacology within the Pharmaceutical Industry, gained whilst working with UK-based companies Servier, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Novartis and Takeda.  She has supported projects through all stages of R&D ranging from early discovery DMPK to late stage clinical development, including post-marketing commitments and established products.  She has experience of both small molecule and biologic drugs and has experience in several therapeutic areas including: Respiratory diseases, Gastrointestinal diseases, Urology, Immunology, Dermatology, CNS and Oncology. She has specialist DMPK and Clinical Pharmacology expertise in inhaled product development, gained whilst working with AstraZeneca and Novartis. In addition to her DMPK discovery background, Ruth has a broad knowledge of DMPK and Clinical Pharmacology development packages to support global regulatory submissions. Ruth is passionate about the development of high quality, innovative therapies for children and was a member of the Takeda global paediatric network. Ruth is familiar with in silico, in vitro and in vivo ADME assays and methodologies and has expertise in SimcypTM PBPK modelling.
Aucuba Sciences Ltd was founded by Ruth in 2016, specialising in DMPK and Clinical Pharmacology expertise and knowledge for drug discovery and development programmes. Based in London, she provides advice and expertise to assist in the resolution of drug discovery and development challenges with clients throughout Europe and the US.
Ruth is currently a tutor and lecturer for the Drug Metabolism Discussion Group (DMDG) Pharmacokinetics course. Past positions also include Honorary secretary, officer and committee member for the Society for Medicines Research (SMR), a multi-disciplinary society for all those engaged in drug research.
 

Andy Merritt is Associate Director, Chemistry at the MRC Technology's Centre for Therapeutics Discovery (CTD). Collaborating with academics, the CTD prosecutes innovative drug discovery programmes; diversity, targeted and in silico generated screening approaches are all used to identify medicinal chemistry leads for further optimisation.
 
Before 2009 Andy was a Director of Discovery Medicinal Chemistry at GlaxoSmithKline, responsible for early lead discovery from screening campaigns, for outsource support for lead discovery chemistry and supply of tool compounds for target validation. Prior to 2001, as part of the GlaxoWellcome organisation he led interdisciplinary teams focusing on the development of new chemical technologies for lead discovery and optimisation. Andy joined the former Glaxo organization as a senior medicinal chemist in 1988 following postdoctoral studies in the USA.
 
Andy currently sits on the editorial board of Chemistry World and regularly lectures on drug discovery at UK universities.

After training as a synthetic organic chemist at Oxford (BA), City (PhD) and Sussex (Post-Doc) universities I worked as a medicinal chemist in R&D in a range of industries for over 25 years, in scientific & project leadership roles and as a team manager. The companies were Glaxo, Shell, AstraZeneca and Medimmune in the pharma, biotech and crop protection sectors. My work has led to over 60 publications, patents and conference presentations. The therapy areas I have worked in have covered antimicrobial, antiviral, inflammation & respiratory (COPD, Asthma, RA, OA), inhaled and oral drugs and small peptides for metabolic diseases. The biological targets have included both receptors and enzymes such as GPCR & chemokine antagonists and lipase & protease inhibitors. The medicinal chemistry campaigns that I have led (in both LI and LO) have resulted in some 10 candidate drugs being identified for clinical development (several in Phase II). Since 2012 I have worked as an independent drug discovery consultant through my own company (Medsyndesign Ltd) and I have consulted for a range of small companies and universities in several disease areas (CV, oncology and injectables).

Dr H. Ratni is currently a Senior Principal Scientist, Medicinal Chemistry, at F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., pRED, Pharma Research & Early Development, Roche Innovation Center Basel, Switzerland.
He received his PhD at the University of Geneva and a post-doc at Tokyo before joining F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd in 2001. His research has mainly been devoted to the areas of neuroscience (for example neurokinin receptors, or V1a receptor antagonist now in human clinical trials, phase II, for autism). In 2005, he participated in a secondment within the Roche group at Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, Gotemba Japan, in the field of renal disease. He was the chemistry discovery project leader of the SMN program aiming for a treatment for spinal muscular atrophy, now undergoing clinical trials in patients. His current focus is on gamma secretase modulator for Alzheimer disease.
He is an author or co-author of more than 100 patents and publications. In 2014 he received the Roche Leo Sternbach Award for Innovation in Chemistry and in 2016 the Gold medal at the Roche Patent Inventor’s recognition event.

I received a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Strathclyde in 1999, after which I worked as a medicinal chemist for Pantherix,  a Glasgow based biotech focused on novel antibacterials. Subsequently I worked in the field of anti-HIV therapy at Heriot-Watt University, and anticancer drugs at Cyclacel, a Dundee based Biotech, before joining the Drug Discovery Unit at the University of Dundee in 2009. Since joining the DDU I have been working on novel therapies for visceral leishmaniasis and Chagas disease, using both phenotypic and target based approaches, and am currently the lead chemist / deputy project leader on a collaboration with GSK which is focused on these diseases.