Biochemistry

Dr Elnaggar is deeply passionate about drug discovery from natural products. Her initial research involved exploring small molecules derived from plants, delving into methods for their isolation, structural elucidation, and assessment of their biological activities. Subsequently, she has developed a great interest in combining diverse research sets at the interface of chemistry and biology. This allowed Dr. Elnaggar to explore the biosynthesis of natural molecules, and the engineering of the enzymes involved in their production to enhance their biosynthetic capabilities. Her research then progressed to studying plant-derived cyclic peptides, focusing on modifying their structures to serve as potent and selective enzyme inhibitors. At present, her research focuses on peptide chemistry, with a deeper exploration of the enzymes involved in their biosynthesis and evaluating their potential to address significant unmet medical needs.

Dr Kaur is a dedicated and research-oriented Assistant Professor with over 14 years of experience in teaching and advanced research in chemistry. Expertise in nanomaterials, environmental remediation, and analytical techniques. Proven track record in publications, patents, and academic contributions with strong interest in innovative materials and foldamer-based systems.

Dr Geertje van Keulen is Associate Professor in Microbial Biochemistry in the Institute of Life Science in the Medical School at Swansea University. She assembles and leads interdisciplinary research and innovation teams with microbiology at its core, expanding understanding of and sustainably exploiting the chemical and materials properties of microbes and amyloid proteins in living, manufactured and natural (soil) environments.

Geertje collaborates across diverse disciplines in e.g. biofilms, biomaterials and soil science, (bio)chemical engineering, hot tub and waste water sanitation and omniphobicity.

Edina Rosta is a Professor of Molecular Modelling in the Condensed Matter & Materials Physics group of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University College London.

Research in the Hindley group takes a multidisciplinary approach to construct bioinspired nano and microsystems known as synthetic cells. By utilising molecular self-assembly, and interfacing compartments with other (bio)molecules, synthetic cells can be constructed with the ability to mimic the architectures, functions and behaviours of biology.

Chris Coxon is a medicinal chemist and chemical biologist at the University of Edinburgh. His research interests are in peptide design, synthesis and the effects and applications of fluorination to control and study peptide and protein folding, recognition and assembly.

The Willison Group’s research interests cover a range of topics including eukaryotic protein folding and single molecule approaches to protein dynamics and protein counting.

Andy Wilson is a Professor in the School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham. The Wilson group are interested in the application of synthetic molecules to problems in Chemical Biology and Materials Science. We pursue both curiosity driven fundamental research and mission inspired research addressing societal challenges.

Manuel is the head of a lab that focuses on developing and applying chemical biology tools to elucidate how proteins are controlled by post-translational modifications.

Steven is the Director of the Biophysical Sciences institute and his research group uses a range of methods and techniques in synthetic organic, peptoid and peptide chemistry to tackle interesting and challenging biological problems.