Author Archive

RSC Medicinal Chemistry welcomes new Associate Editor, Dr Susanne Müller-Knapp

We are delighted to welcome our new Associate Editor Dr Susanne Müller-Knapp from Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany to the RSC Medicinal Chemistry Editorial Board! Read on to find out more about Susanne and her thoughts about the journal and her new role.Photo of Susanne Müller-Knapp, RSC Medicinal Chemistry Associate Editor.


More about Susanne

Susanne Müller-Knapp is Chief Operating Officer at the Structural Genomics Consortium, SGC, Frankfurt and Director of Operations of the Chemical Probes Portal.

She obtained a PhD at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. After spending several years as postdoctoral researcher in the area of inflammation and gene regulation at the Karolinska Institute and at the DIBIT San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, Italy, she joined 2004 the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), at Oxford University, where she coordinated the Epigenetic Probe Project and lead a group, focusing on the evaluation of novel chemical probes, cellular target engagement of these tool compounds and their biological roles. Her research now focuses on using chemical biology to dissect the role of specific targets in biology and disease with a main focus on cancer. In her role as Director of Operations for the Chemical Probes Portal, she focuses on providing data and knowledge on high quality chemical tools and establishing quality standards for chemical probes with diverse modes of action.


Susanne’s thoughts on our journal

We asked Susanne some questions about working with our journal, read on to see what she thinks.

What are your thoughts about RSC Medicinal Chemistry and the future of the journal?

“RSC Medicinal Chemistry publishes high-quality articles, adhering to rigorous standards to showcase compelling research in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. The journal takes a forward-thinking approach, offering a variety of engaging themed collections. I especially value its commitment to Open Science, a principle I strongly support.”

How do you feel about starting your new role as an Associate Editor for our journal?

“I am delighted to have been selected as Associate Editor. I am eager to work with the RSC Medicinal Chemistry team and help drive the journal’s ongoing growth and success. Being able to help shaping the future of medicinal chemistry by supporting emerging trends and staying at the forefront of ground breaking research and innovative drug discovery strategies will be both exciting and fulfilling.”

As an Associate Editor, what subject areas would you like to see in RSC Medicinal Chemistry?

“As a biologist by training, I am passionate about enhancing communication between chemists and biologists to promote better annotation and more effective use of small molecules, ultimately improving reproducibility in chemical biology. Bridging this gap is crucial for advancing the field, and I find the prospect of helping to shape high-quality content that enriches both scientific understanding and practical applications incredibly rewarding. This interdisciplinary dialogue has the potential to drive more impactful research and innovation across disciplines.”

You can find out more about the rest of our Editorial Board members on our website and submit your article to them today!

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Winner of the 2024 RSC Medicinal Chemistry Emerging Investigator Lectureship

Congratulations to Professor Luca Laraia, recipient of the 2024 RSC Medicinal Chemistry Emerging Investigator Lectureship. 

The annual RSC Medicinal Chemistry Emerging Investigator Lectureship recognises a researcher who has made a significant contribution to medicinal chemistry and drug discovery in their independent academic career, and is open to candidates who received their PhD within the last 10 years. The RSC Medicinal Chemistry Editorial Board have selected Prof Laraia, from the the Technical University of Denmark, as the winner this year. Prof Laraia’s research focuses on the chemical biology of sterol-mediated processes, developing small molecule and protein regulators of cholesterol biosynthesis, metabolism and trafficking, with applications in a range of diseases.

“I am delighted to receive the RSC Medicinal Chemistry Emerging Investigator Lectureship. This is a fantastic recognition of the multidisciplinary work that characterises medicinal chemistry, carried out by our talented group members over the last few years. I am excited to continue to carry out and highlight our work on targeting sterol-mediated processes.” – Prof Luca Laraia

Prof Laraia’s lectureship will be held at a conference later this year, more details to follow. To stay up to date with future announcements, follow us on X (formerly Twitter): @rsc_medchem, LinkedIn: Chemical Biology RSCChemBio and sign-up to our news alerts.

 

More about Luca

Luca Laraia was born in Rome (Italy) and grew up in Vienna (Austria) before moving to London for his MSci degree in chemistry at Imperial College London. He carried out a PhD in medicinal chemistry and chemical biology funded by CRUK at the University of Cambridge, in the labs of Professors David Spring and Ashok Venkitaraman. He then moved to Dortmund as an Alexander von Humboldt post-doctoral research fellow to work at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology with Professor Herbert Waldmann, before joining the Department of Chemistry at the Technical University of Denmark as an Assistant Professor. Since April 2021 he is an Associate Professor at the same department, leading a research group at the interface of chemistry and biology, focusing on the development of chemical tools and potential therapeutic leads to study and modulate lipid homeostasis. Luca is the recipient of an ERC Starting Grant (2021) and a Hallas Møller Emerging Investigator (2021) from the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Check out Luca’s recent publications in Chemical Science and ChemComm:

Identification of non-conventional small molecule degraders and stabilizers of squalene synthase (Open Access)

Joseph G. F. Hoock, Cecilia Rossetti, Mesut Bilgin, Laura Depta, Kasper Enemark-Rasmussen, John C. Christianson and Luca Laraia*

Chem. Sci., 2023, 14, 12973-12983

Redshifted and thermally bistable one-way quantitative hemithioindigo-derived photoswitches enabled by isomer-specific excited state intramolecular proton transfer

Mikkel Krell-Jørgensen, Habiburrahman Zulfikri, Magnus Grage Bonnevie, Frederik Simonsen Bro, Asmus Ougaard Dohn and Luca Laraia*

Chem. Commun., 2023, 59, 563-566

Find out more about Luca and follow his lab’s X here at @laraialab.

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RSC Medicinal Chemistry welcomes new Associate Editor, Professor Sankar Guchhait

We are delighted to welcome our new Associate Editor Professor Sankar Guchhait from the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), India to the RSC Medicinal Chemistry Editorial Board! Read on to find out more about Sankar and his thoughts about the journal and his new role.


More about Sankar

Sankar K. Guchhait is a Professor in Department of Medicinal Chemistry at National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali, India. He did his PhD research at Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Kolkata. Following his postdoctoral research for four years at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, University of Illinois at Chicago, and University of California, Riverside, he started his research and teaching career at NIPER in 2007.

His research focuses majorly on medicinal chemistry, anticancer drug discovery, and synthesis of natural product-based and pharmaceutically important heterocyclic compounds. The research activities in his group made significant contributions to areas, especially medicinal chemistry strategies – Natural product-inspired, Scaffold-hopping, and Choice-based change approaches, Molecular medicinal insights, creating a new from clinical trial agents and drugs, and identification of target-specific unique pharmacophore motifs.

He is recipient of several honors and awards, such as the Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI) Bronze Medal in 2022 and the Indian Chemical Society’s Professor D. Nasipuri Memorial Award in 2015.


Sankar’s thoughts on our journal

We asked Sankar some questions about working with our journal, read on to see what he thinks.

What are your thoughts about RSC Medicinal Chemistry and the future of the journal?

“RSC Medicinal Chemistry publishes quality articles and offers guidance and insight into the wonderful and fascinating diversity of evolving medicinal chemistry strategies and drug discovery research. The journal has the potential to become a leader and worldwide premier resource for medicinal chemistry education and research tools.”

How do you feel about starting your new role as an Associate Editor for our journal?

“In my new role as Associate Editor, I am excited and looking forward to working with the RSC Medicinal Chemistry journal team and contributing to the journal’s increasing growth.”

As an Associate Editor, what subject areas would you like to see in RSC Medicinal Chemistry?

“I would like to see the RSC MedChem journal covering more research articles on molecular medicinal properties insights into drug discovery research, in vitro pharmacodynamics, physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties linking with molecular structures, rational design and investigation with analytical thinking, and use of advanced sophisticated instruments in the field.

By publishing articles on these subject areas, the journal would provide valuable research and educational knowledge resources and increasingly attract the chemists and pharmaceutical scientists, especially organic chemists that are interested in medicinal chemistry research.”

You can find out more about the rest of our Editorial Board members on our website and submit your article to them today!

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Winner of the 2023 RSC Medicinal Chemistry Emerging Investigator Lectureship

Congratulations to Dr Christoph Nitsche, recipient of the 2023 RSC Medicinal Chemistry Emerging Investigator Lectureship. 

The annual RSC Medicinal Chemistry Emerging Investigator Lectureship recognises a researcher who has made a significant contribution to medicinal chemistry and drug discovery in their independent academic career, and is open to candidates who received their PhD within the last 10 years. The RSC Medicinal Chemistry Editorial Board have selected Dr Nitsche, from the Australian National University, as the winner this year.

“I am honoured to receive the RSC Medicinal Chemistry Emerging Investigator Lectureship, which I owe first and foremost to my students and postdocs for their tireless efforts over the last couple of years. I was fortunate enough to have had great mentors who inspired me to think outside the box and build interdisciplinary bridges. I am most grateful for the generous support I have received from foundations and funding agencies throughout my early career, as they have provided me the freedom to pursue my ideas.” – Dr Christoph Nitsche

Dr Nitsche’s lectureship will be held virtually at date to be confirmed. To stay up to date with future announcements, follow us on Twitter @rsc_medchem and sign-up to our news alerts.

 

More about Christoph

Dr Nitsche is Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra. He completed his PhD in medicinal chemistry at Heidelberg University, Germany, in 2014 and was awarded a Feodor Lynen Fellowship to undertake postdoctoral work in structural biology at the ANU from 2015 to 2018. After a short period at the Free University of Berlin, he received an ARC Discovery Early Career Research Award in 2019 to return to the ANU as a group leader with the goal to accelerate drug discovery. His most recent honours include the John Wade Early Career Researcher Award, the Peter Schwerdtfeger Award, and the Australian Research Award as top researcher in the field of Medicinal Chemistry. Dr Nitsche’s interdisciplinary research program focuses on infectious diseases, bioorthogonal chemistry, and peptide and protein modification.

Find out more about Christoph and the work his lab is doing on their webpage.

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