RSC Medicinal Chemistry Blog

Congratulations to Professor Christian Heinis from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland, who is the recipient of the 2013 MedChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship.

Professor Heinis receives the Lectureship in recognition of his research into drugs in the “middle space” between small molecules and biologicals, in particular for his work on cyclic peptide therapeutics.He will deliver the lecture at the 2014 EFMC International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry in Lisbon, Portugal.

The  annual MedChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship is given to a researcher who has made a significant contribution to medicinal chemistry research in the early part of their career. The recipient must also have published an article in MedChemComm. Nominations are received from members of the public and the recipient is chosen by a committee formed of members of the Editorial Board.        

Biography of Christian Heinis

Christian Heinis studied biochemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) where he also did a PhD in the research group of Prof. Dr. Dario Neri. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the group of Prof. Dr. Kai Johnsson at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne (EPFL) and in the group of Sir Gregory Winter at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, UK. In 2008 he was appointed Assistant Professor with tenure track for Bioorganic Chemistry at EPFL and since 2009 he is holding a professorship of the Swiss National Science Foundation. The general research interest of Christian Heinis is the development of novel and innovative therapeutic strategies using chemical and biological methodologies and tools. Christian is a scientific founder of the start-up company Bicycle Therapeutics.

Recent articles in MedChemComm by Christian Heinis

Phage display libraries of differently sized bicyclic peptides
Inmaculada Rentero Rebollo, Alessandro Angelini and Christian Heinis  
Med. Chem. Commun., 2013,4, 145-150

Strategies to prolong the plasma residence time of peptide drugs
Lisa Pollaro and Christian Heinis  
Med. Chem. Commun., 2010,1, 319-324

Patrick Gunning from University of Toronto, Canada last week delivered the first of his two MedChemComm Emerging Investigator lectureships at the 245th American Chemical Society meeting in New Orleans. Patrick’s talk, entitled Progress towards small-molecule, non-phosphorylated STAT3 inhibitors, was delivered as part of the Molecular-Based Approaches Towards the Regulation of Gene Transcription session.

Patrick Gunning receives his lectureship certificate

 Patrick will deliver a second lecture at the 96th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition in Quebec in May.

We are delighted to announce that Dr Patrick Gunning from the University of Toronto (Canada) is the recipient of the inaugural MedChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship.

The MedChemComm mission is to publish and promote research which pushes the boundaries of what is thought possible in medicinal chemistry, opening up new avenues of research. The committee felt Dr Gunning to be an outstanding candidate for the Lectureship, with his prominent work into the investigation and manipulation of protein function exemplifying the journal’s mission.

On receiving the Lectureship Dr Gunning said “I am absolutely delighted and honoured to be the recipient of the 2012 RSC MedChemComm Lectureship. It is a wonderful surprise!” Commenting on Dr Gunning’s Lectureship, Professor Andrew Hamilton, Vice Chancellor of Oxford University, said “Over the past several years Patrick has made an outstanding start to his independent research career. His work on disruptors of STAT3 function is both innovative and effective, and has the potential to open a new line of attack on some of the most aggressive cancers. I have also enjoyed reading his exciting and novel approach to targeting cancer through redirecting various oncoproteins from their targets to harmless anchoring into the cell membrane.”  

Dr Gunning will deliver the Lecture at an international conference in the next year. This will be announced in due course.

The MedChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship is an annual Lectureship which is given to a researcher who has made a significant contribution to medicinal chemistry research in the early part of their career. The recipient must also have published an article in MedChemComm. Nominations are received from members of the public and the recipient is chosen by a committee formed of members of the Editorial Board. Nominations for the 2013 Lectureship will open in late 2012.

View Dr Gunning’s recent  articles:

Src homology 2 domain proteomimetics: developing phosphopeptide selective receptors
Joel A. Drewry, Steven Burger, Amir Mazouchi, Eugenia Duodu, Paul Ayers, Claudiu C. Gradinaru and Patrick T. Gunning
Med. Chem. Commun., 2012, 3, 763-770

Inhibitors of Stat5 protein signalling
Abbarna A. Cumaraswamy, Aleksandra Todic, Diana Resetca, Mark D. Minden and Patrick T. Gunning
Med. Chem. Commun., 2012, 3, 22-27

Nominations are now open for the 2012 MedChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship. This new, annual Lectureship is given to recognise an emerging scientist who has made a significant contribution to their research field.

Members of the community are welcome to make a nomination for the Lectureship. In order to make a nomination, please contact the MedChemComm Editorial Office with the name and affiliation of the nominee and a brief description of why they should be considered. In order to be eligible for the MedChemComm Emerging Investigator Lectureship, the candidate should have completed their PhD on or after 31^st December 2001.

Nominations close on 31^st March 2012

The recipient of the Lectureship will be asked to present a lecture at an international meeting. The MedChemComm Editorial Office will provide a contribution to the recipient for travel and accommodation costs. The recipient of the Lectureship will be selected by a panel comprised of MedChemComm Editorial Board members.