RSC Desktop Seminar Series with RSC Medicinal Chemistry & RSC-BMCS

Matthias Wymann leads the “Cancer & Immunobiology” group at the Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel.
 
Wymann has introduced the first phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor, wortmannin, and elucidated inhibitor PI3K-interactions. Recent research focused on the molecular function and physiologic importance of PI3Ks, in particular PI3Kg in chronic inflammation and allergy. PI3Kg was shown to relay signals emerging from G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) to leukocyte migration and mast cell degranulation. PI3Kg knock-in strategies illustrated lately, that the PI3Kg protein, but not lipid kinase activity is required for the down-regulation of cardiac cAMP, and PI3Kg thus affects heart contractile responses. Wymann has also promoted efforts to develop PI3Kg–specific, bioavailable inhibitors, which demonstrated the feasibility to target PI3Kg in chronic inflammation and allergy, e.g. rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis (EU FP5 ACID and FP6 MAIN projects). Current research concentrates on the role of PI3K and PI3K-related kinases in cancer and inflammation, as well as the development of chemical biological tools to improve spacial and temporal resolution in phosphoinositide signalling, and translational development of PI3K and mTOR kinase inhibitors.

Paola Castaldi is an experienced and passionate chemical biologist with experience in leading multidisciplinary teams supporting programs across several therapeutic areas and stages.  Her drive towards embedding state-of-the-art technologies to drug discovery and development, resulted in several contributions to target identification, mechanism of action and safety deconvolution of therapeutics.
Before joining LifeMine Therapeutics, Paola headed the Chemical Biology & Proteomics department at AstraZeneca. Over the years Paola was responsible for the build of a state-of-the-art chemical biology and mass spectrometry hub with global impact across all therapeutic areas and platforms. Notably she played a critical role to the establishment of the protein degradation and the multi-omics initiatives.
Before AstraZeneca, Paola was a key contributor of the Chemical Genetics group at Sanofi Oncology, Cambridge, MA with a focus on phenotypic drug discovery projects for the Wnt and KRAS oncogenic pathways.
Between other responsibilities, Paola is part of the SAB for the Chemical Biology Doctorate Program at Imperial College London and has authored more than 25 peer-reviewed articles.
Paola completed her undergraduate studies in pharmaceutical chemistry and received her Laurea (MSc) at University of Padova, Italy. She then went on to conduct graduate research studies at Imperial College London, UK and postdoctoral studies at UCSD and Boston University.