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I am a medicinal chemist with expertise in chemical biology, antibacterial and cancer chemotherapy, and the study of natural products as templates for future drug design.

Emphasis is given to the rational design, synthesis and bioassay-guided evaluation of “small-molecule” anticancer/antibacterial compounds, which are designed to interact with an individual protein target or predetermined DNA sequence. I am also interested in natural products isolation and purification from plants.

I graduated in Pharmacy from the University of Palermo, Italy, and then gained a PhD in medicinal chemistry at the UCL School of Pharmacy, London, where I was also appointed a Maplethorpe Postdoctoral Fellow.

I am a General Pharmaceutical Council registered pharmacist and I have spent some years working in community pharmacies.

Chemistry for Health, Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology

DNA sequence-selective C8-linked pyrrolobenzodiazepine(PBD)-heterocyclic polyamide conjugates show anti-tubercular specific activities J. Antibiot., 2016, 69(12), 843–849.

Synthesis, anti-mycobacterial activity and DNA sequence-selectivity of a library of biaryl-motifs containing polyamides Bioorg. Med. Chem., 2015, 23(13), 3705-3711.

An Extended Pyrrolobenzodiazepine-Polyamide Conjugate with Selectivity for a DNA Sequence Containing the ICB2 Transcription Factor Binding Site J. Med. Chem. 2013, 56(16), 6339-6351.

Research interests in anti-cancer and anti-tuberculosis drug discovery:

• Medicinal chemistry work aimed at generating synthetic analogues with improved efficacy and potency
• Target validation with the aid of chemical probes
• Natural products
• Development of bio-guided assays for the identification of hit-chemical probes

Medicinal chemistry

Chemical biology

Organic chemistry

Pharm. D.

PhD

PGCertHE

PHAR1603; PHAR3604; PHCO1302; PHCO3312

RSC, AACR, GPhC, FHEA

Current research activities:

• Rational design, synthesis and evaluation of novel antibacterial hit-molecules.
• Bioassay-guided identification of small-molecules with anti-tuberculosis activity.
• Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of sequence-selective DNA-binding agents with anti-cancer activity.
• Combinatorial approach for the synthesis of analogues with improved efficacy and potency.
• Isolation and identification of novel, bio-active molecules from natural sources, including plants and marine species, and elucidation of their mechanism of action

0000-0001-8661-2910