People
Professor Manfred Auer - Group leader
Professor Manfred Auer - Group leader
In his lab Manfred Auer links basic research and applied science by developing and running new miniaturized target, compound and technology platforms comprising all steps from design, theoretical and experimental target analysis, high throughput chemical synthesis and screening, to quantitative mechanistic studies of compound action in cells and model organisms. These integrated projects result in small molecular and peptidomimetic tool compounds and chemical probes used to validate proteins as drug targets and in hit and lead compounds progressed into drug discovery in industrial collaborations.
In his lab Manfred Auer links basic research and applied science by developing and running new miniaturized target, compound and technology platforms comprising all steps from design, theoretical and experimental target analysis, high throughput chemical synthesis and screening, to quantitative mechanistic studies of compound action in cells and model organisms. These integrated projects result in small molecular and peptidomimetic tool compounds and chemical probes used to validate proteins as drug targets and in hit and lead compounds progressed into drug discovery in industrial collaborations.
Manfred is responsible for the Biochemical Techniques course in Biochemistry Honours for which also acts as a member of the Exam Board. He also teaches in the following courses: Structure and Function of Proteins (Year 3), Biotechnology Honours (Year 4), Next Generation Drug Discovery” Distance Learning PG Programme, MSc Protein Structure Determination, MSc Commercial Aspects of Drug Discovery. At the University of Salzburg, Austria, he teaches a 15 lectures comprising course in “Current Trends in Drug Discovery, Assays and Screening” as Adjunct Professor.
Manfred is responsible for the Biochemical Techniques course in Biochemistry Honours for which also acts as a member of the Exam Board. He also teaches in the following courses: Structure and Function of Proteins (Year 3), Biotechnology Honours (Year 4), Next Generation Drug Discovery” Distance Learning PG Programme, MSc Protein Structure Determination, MSc Commercial Aspects of Drug Discovery. At the University of Salzburg, Austria, he teaches a 15 lectures comprising course in “Current Trends in Drug Discovery, Assays and Screening” as Adjunct Professor.
Dr Nhan T Pham - Postdoctorial researcher and Lab manager
Dr Nhan T Pham - Postdoctorial researcher and Lab manager
Nahn is responsible for management of equipment and laboratories as well as all screening platforms utilised in the Auer lab. Biophysical characterisation of protein targets. Screening small molecule compounds/libraries against proteins. Performing fluorescence imaging, phenotypic screening, single molecule and ensemble averaging spectroscopic measurements.
Nahn is responsible for management of equipment and laboratories as well as all screening platforms utilised in the Auer lab. Biophysical characterisation of protein targets. Screening small molecule compounds/libraries against proteins. Performing fluorescence imaging, phenotypic screening, single molecule and ensemble averaging spectroscopic measurements.
Dr Steven Shave - Postdoctorial researcher
Dr Steven Shave - Postdoctorial researcher
Steven comes from a computational background and entered the field of drug discovery during his Ph.D specialising in virtual screening techniques and HPC/parallel computing. His work involves the development of new software and algorithms for virtual screening and their application to validated drug targets. The interdisciplinary crossover between computing, biology and chemistry requires close alignment with chemists and biologists within the Auer group. Since joining the Auer group, focus has shifted to the support of combinatorial chemistry and screening efforts with both structure and ligand-based virtual screening techniques along with the development of a systematic approach to the disruption of protein-protein interfaces using peptidomimetics.
Steven comes from a computational background and entered the field of drug discovery during his Ph.D specialising in virtual screening techniques and HPC/parallel computing. His work involves the development of new software and algorithms for virtual screening and their application to validated drug targets. The interdisciplinary crossover between computing, biology and chemistry requires close alignment with chemists and biologists within the Auer group. Since joining the Auer group, focus has shifted to the support of combinatorial chemistry and screening efforts with both structure and ligand-based virtual screening techniques along with the development of a systematic approach to the disruption of protein-protein interfaces using peptidomimetics.
Dr Joanna Koszela - Postdoctorial researcher
Dr Joanna Koszela - Postdoctorial researcher
Joanna started her adventure with ubiquitination - a regulatory modification of proteins which controls virtually all cellular processes - during a Masters project on p53 neddylation with Dimitris Xirodimas at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Gene Expression and Regulation in Dundee, UK. She obtained her Masters diploma in Biosciences at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon in France. She then joined a 4-year Wellcome Trust PhD Programme in Cell Biology at the University of Edinburgh, UK in Mike Tyers’ and Manfred Auer’s groups, where she had been developing new methods for identification of ubiquitination modulators. Currently a postdoc in Manfred Auer’s lab, she is a co-inventor of a novel in-vitro assay technology, UPS-CONA, and a co-author of a patent application. With a strong background in cell and molecular biology and increasing interest in systems biology approaches, Joanna’s future research plans include unravelling the molecular details of polyubiquitin chain formation and exploring specificity in the ubiquitination system with an ultimate goal to identify key players contributing to development of cancer, neurodegeneration and other diseases.
Joanna started her adventure with ubiquitination - a regulatory modification of proteins which controls virtually all cellular processes - during a Masters project on p53 neddylation with Dimitris Xirodimas at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Gene Expression and Regulation in Dundee, UK. She obtained her Masters diploma in Biosciences at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon in France. She then joined a 4-year Wellcome Trust PhD Programme in Cell Biology at the University of Edinburgh, UK in Mike Tyers’ and Manfred Auer’s groups, where she had been developing new methods for identification of ubiquitination modulators. Currently a postdoc in Manfred Auer’s lab, she is a co-inventor of a novel in-vitro assay technology, UPS-CONA, and a co-author of a patent application. With a strong background in cell and molecular biology and increasing interest in systems biology approaches, Joanna’s future research plans include unravelling the molecular details of polyubiquitin chain formation and exploring specificity in the ubiquitination system with an ultimate goal to identify key players contributing to development of cancer, neurodegeneration and other diseases.
Joanna has now moved on the University of Glasgow, but still works with CTB to complete various projects.
Joanna has now moved on the University of Glasgow, but still works with CTB to complete various projects.
Dr Rebecka Isaksson - Postdoctorial researcher
Dr Rebecka Isaksson - Postdoctorial researcher
Rebecka did her undergraduate in chemical engineering at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. She moved into medicinal chemistry for her PhD project, conducted under the supervision of Prof Mats Larhed at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at Uppsala University, Sweden. The aim of her thesis was to synthesize possible ligands binding the angiotensin II type 2 receptor, and also to develop an assay to determine functional activity of the synthesized ligands. Rebecka joined the Auer group to work in a Leverhulme Trust funded project focused on peptide and peptidomimetic synthesis and in vitro evaluation. In her project she will synthesize and explore the biological effects of nullomers, which are amino acid sequences that are not expressed in any protein within the known biological space.
Rebecka did her undergraduate in chemical engineering at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. She moved into medicinal chemistry for her PhD project, conducted under the supervision of Prof Mats Larhed at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at Uppsala University, Sweden. The aim of her thesis was to synthesize possible ligands binding the angiotensin II type 2 receptor, and also to develop an assay to determine functional activity of the synthesized ligands. Rebecka joined the Auer group to work in a Leverhulme Trust funded project focused on peptide and peptidomimetic synthesis and in vitro evaluation. In her project she will synthesize and explore the biological effects of nullomers, which are amino acid sequences that are not expressed in any protein within the known biological space.
Christopher Jennnings - PhD student
Christopher Jennnings - PhD student
Chris completed his undergraduate bachelor’s degree at the University of the West of England, where he studied Biomedical Sciences. During this time he completed a placement year at Virginia Commonwealth University under the supervision of Prof. Gail Christie, performing a high-throughput screening campaign to identify small molecule inhibitors of a novel antibiotic target recently discovered by the Christie lab. Chris is currently studying for his PhD, focussing on the chemical validation of proteins that play a critical role during cell division through protein protein interactions. Many of these targets, such as Survivin, are upregulated in a variety of cancers.
Chris completed his undergraduate bachelor’s degree at the University of the West of England, where he studied Biomedical Sciences. During this time he completed a placement year at Virginia Commonwealth University under the supervision of Prof. Gail Christie, performing a high-throughput screening campaign to identify small molecule inhibitors of a novel antibiotic target recently discovered by the Christie lab. Chris is currently studying for his PhD, focussing on the chemical validation of proteins that play a critical role during cell division through protein protein interactions. Many of these targets, such as Survivin, are upregulated in a variety of cancers.
Yan-Kai Chen - PhD student
Yan-Kai Chen - PhD student
Yan-Kai completed research work for his Master’s degree at The University of Edinburgh, focusing on a cheminfomatic project predicting LogP using machine learning techniques. Yan-Kai has a computational background in the biotechnology sector in Taiwan, performing biostatistics and bioinformatics analysis of genomics and protein structure data. He is currently studying for a PhD degree with the aim of applying machine learning techniques to the field of drug discovery.
Yan-Kai completed research work for his Master’s degree at The University of Edinburgh, focusing on a cheminfomatic project predicting LogP using machine learning techniques. Yan-Kai has a computational background in the biotechnology sector in Taiwan, performing biostatistics and bioinformatics analysis of genomics and protein structure data. He is currently studying for a PhD degree with the aim of applying machine learning techniques to the field of drug discovery.
Wei Li - PhD Student
Wei Li - PhD Student
Wei completed his undergraduate study at the Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China, majored in Pharmaceutical Engineering. Later, he pursued his master’s degree in Drug development science at King’s College London and another master’s degree by research in Oncology at the University of Nottingham. He has research experiences in medicinal chemistry, anti-cancer drug delivery, drug development, and cancer molecular biology studies. Now he is a 4-year Darwin Trust PhD student in Quantitative Biology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology programme at the University of Edinburgh in professor Manfred Auer’s group. His study focuses on the discovery of the modulators of the ubiquitin-conjugation enzymes (E2s) family which, despite operating at the heart of ubiquitination reactions, have been underexplored so far. The modulators will be searched from marine natural products, which are a source of very diverse and chemically sophisticated compounds in contract to synthetic. In this project, Wei aims to develop a distinctive, novel approach for discovery of tool molecules and potentially starting points for medicines related to ubiquitination.
Wei completed his undergraduate study at the Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China, majored in Pharmaceutical Engineering. Later, he pursued his master’s degree in Drug development science at King’s College London and another master’s degree by research in Oncology at the University of Nottingham. He has research experiences in medicinal chemistry, anti-cancer drug delivery, drug development, and cancer molecular biology studies. Now he is a 4-year Darwin Trust PhD student in Quantitative Biology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology programme at the University of Edinburgh in professor Manfred Auer’s group. His study focuses on the discovery of the modulators of the ubiquitin-conjugation enzymes (E2s) family which, despite operating at the heart of ubiquitination reactions, have been underexplored so far. The modulators will be searched from marine natural products, which are a source of very diverse and chemically sophisticated compounds in contract to synthetic. In this project, Wei aims to develop a distinctive, novel approach for discovery of tool molecules and potentially starting points for medicines related to ubiquitination.
Connor Smieja - PhD Student
Connor Smieja - PhD Student
Connor graduated from the University of Bath in 2019 with first class honours. During his third year industrial placement, Connor worked at GlaxoSmithKline’s Stevenage R&D site as part of a medicinal chemistry team, designing and synthesising novel molecules with the aim of producing a novel treatment for fibrotic disease. For his Master's research project, he developed a computational protocol for calculating transition state energy barriers of 1,4-addition reactions using density functional theory, and investigated its applicability in informing covalent drug design. He subsequently recieved the Grant Buchanan Prize for this work at his graduation. During his PhD in the Auer lab, he will improve understanding of the complex chemical processes involved in the ubiquitin-conjugation pathway, focusing on the E2 enzyme family, and develop a distinctive, novel approach for the disovery of tool molecules that could provide a valuable starting point for drug development in this field.
Connor graduated from the University of Bath in 2019 with first class honours. During his third year industrial placement, Connor worked at GlaxoSmithKline’s Stevenage R&D site as part of a medicinal chemistry team, designing and synthesising novel molecules with the aim of producing a novel treatment for fibrotic disease. For his Master's research project, he developed a computational protocol for calculating transition state energy barriers of 1,4-addition reactions using density functional theory, and investigated its applicability in informing covalent drug design. He subsequently recieved the Grant Buchanan Prize for this work at his graduation. During his PhD in the Auer lab, he will improve understanding of the complex chemical processes involved in the ubiquitin-conjugation pathway, focusing on the E2 enzyme family, and develop a distinctive, novel approach for the disovery of tool molecules that could provide a valuable starting point for drug development in this field.
