RSC Medicinal Chemistry Blog

We are pleased to welcome nominations for the 2021 RSC Medicinal Chemistry Emerging Investigator Lectureship. The Lectureship celebrates early career researchers who have made significant contributions in the fields of medicinal chemistry and drug discovery.

Nominations will close 30 November 2020.

The recipient of the lectureship will receive a contribution of up to £1000 towards speaking at a conference in 2021. We recognise many researchers’ travel plans for 2021 are uncertain, and are flexible in accommodating speaking engagements at digital conferences.

Eligibility:
The lectureship is open to candidates who received their PhD in 2011 or later and who have made a significant contribution to medicinal chemistry in their early career, particularly if they have brought new ideas to drug discovery.

How you can nominate:
If you would like to nominate someone please email medchem-rsc@rsc.org with the following details:

• Their name
• Their affiliation
• At least one paragraph explaining their achievements and why you think they should be considered

Additional supporting information, for example their CV, is very helpful in making a decision but is not mandatory for making a nomination.

Self-nominations are accepted but must be supported by a letter of support from your Head of Department or similar person at your institute.

Selection:
All qualified nominations will be considered and a short-list of candidates will be selected based on the information provided at nomination. The RSC Medicinal Chemistry Editorial Board will then vote to select the recipient and the winner will be announced in early 2021.

Past winners of the RSC Medicinal Chemistry Emerging Investigator Lectureship (previously named the MedChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship) include:

• Dr Chandradhish Ghosh (Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces) – 2020
• Dr. Amanda Hargrove (Duke University, USA) – 2019
• Dr. Gonçalo Bernardes (University of Cambridge, UK) – 2018
• Dr Laura H. Heitman (Leiden University, Netherlands) – 2017
• Dr Alessio Ciulli (University of Dundee, UK) – 2016
• Professor Richard Payne (University of Sydney, Australia) – 2015

Congratulations to Dr. Chandradhish Ghosh, the recipient of the 2020 RSC Medicinal Chemistry Emerging Investigator Lectureship!

The Lectureship was open to any candidate who received their PhD in 2010 or later and has made a significant contribution to medicinal chemistry in their early career. The RSC Medicinal Chemistry Editorial Board selected Dr. Ghosh, from Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Germany, from a short-list of nominees.

Many congratulations to Dr. Ghosh for winning the lectureship.

When he was informed of his selection, Dr. Ghosh said:

“I feel humbled to be recognized by scientists who inspire me. It motivates me to strive harder to solve the problems of human diseases. This would not have been possible without the support of fantastic mentors, colleagues, collaborators, teachers, friends and family.”

About Chandradhish

Dr. Chandradhish Ghosh performed his doctoral studies at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, under the supervision of Prof. Jayanta Haldar, after first earning his MSc in Chemistry at the University of Delhi. Since 2017, he has been working at the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces, in the group of Prof. Peter H. Seeberger. His current work focusses on targeting neglected tropical diseases.

His doctoral work on membrane-active small molecules against drug-resistant pathogens has led to an anti-Ebola drug candidate. He has contributed to the sum of knowledge in the field by the publication of several highly cited reviews. He has won several awards, including the prestigious Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Award in 2015.

To show the range of his scientific work, some of Dr. Ghosh’s recent works are below:

A review on cell wall synthesis inhibitors with an emphasis on glycopeptide antibiotics

Med. Chem. Commun., 2017, 8, 516-533

l-Lysine based lipidated biphenyls as agents with anti-biofilm and anti-inflammatory properties that also inhibit intracellular bacteria

Chem. Commun., 2017, 53, 8427-8430