CeTPD scientist profiles

Sarath Ramachandran, PhD

• B.E. in Biotechnology (2008), VTU, Karnataka (India)
• M.Tech. in Biotechnology (2011), Indian Institute of Technology- Guwahati (India)
• PhD in Structural Biology (2017), National University of Singapore, Singapore

I am currently working as a structural biologist/biophysicist/biologist in the EUbOPEN consortium, developing chemical probes targeting novel E3 ligases. We also aim to expand upon the current arsenal of E3 ligase recruiting PROTAC handles to overcome resistance and explore potential tissue/disease-specific targeted degradation of proteins of interest. The project benefits greatly from the access and insights from multiple partnering academic and industrial groups within the EUbOPEN consortium.

The unique prospect of working in a multidisciplinary setup involving chemists, structural biologists and cell biologists, has been the biggest motivation for me to join Alessio’s lab/ CeTPD. I enjoy the collaborative nature of work where scientists with different expertise work in a multipronged manner to solve a common problem. Apart from science, Dundee is also personally special to me as it is here that I evolved from an individual to a husband and now a father. The time I spent around Dundee with my daughter in the past two years is a memory I would cherish for a lifetime.

Prior to joining Alessio’s lab in 2017, I did my Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Sivaraman Jayaraman at the National University of Singapore. I did my Master’s in Biotechnology from Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati, and bachelor's in Biotechnology from Visveswaraiah Technological University, Karnataka (India)

Charlotte Crowe

PhD student

• Master in Chemistry (2020), University of St Andrews, UK

I am a PhD student in Professor Alessio Ciulli’s laboratory at the CeTPD, on the MRC Doctoral Training Programme in Quantitative and Interdisciplinary approaches to Biomedical science (QIBIOMED). My project is co-supervised by Professor Ron Hay and is in collaboration with Tocris Bioscience.

My PhD research focuses on elucidating the mechanisms of targeted protein degradation. As a chemist by degree, my interdisciplinary project gives me the opportunity to learn a wide range of new skills, namely in biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology, while also developing my knowledge of medicinal and organic chemistry.

Since January 2021, I have been coordinating the CeTPD’s Journal Club.

Experience prior to working in Dundee

I am originally from Strasbourg, France. I moved to Scotland to study an MChem Master in Chemistry at the University of St Andrews. My masters project was under the supervision of Professor Rebecca Goss, developing mild and aqueous cross-coupling chemistries for natural product derivatisation.

During my undergraduate years, I undertook a summer project in the School of Life Sciences in Dundee. I was very impressed by the culture and facilities, which was a motivating factor for me to return to Dundee in the future.

Life in Dundee

As an undergraduate student in St Andrews, I already had the opportunity to visit Dundee several times before deciding to move here. I enjoy that Dundee has all the amenities of a larger city, but everything is within walking distance. Dundee is also surrounded with countryside, forests, hills, the river Tay and several nearby beaches. Overall, I think the quality of life here is very good.

Why work at CeTPD

So far, I have had a fantastic experience as a PhD student, and it is not only the science but also the people who make the CeTPD. Some of my favourite aspects of the CeTPD are:

• Being surrounded by scientists who care about their research, who are so willing to help and share their knowledge, and who share great values;
• Being in a multicultural and enriching environment;
• Being part of a large and socially active community.

Dr. Will Farnaby, PhD, MRSC

Leader of the CeTPD-Boehringer-Ingelheim (ACBI) collaboration team

I lead a multi-talented and multi-disciplinary team of drug discovery scientists. We are pursuing novel cures for cancer with our collaborators at pharmaceutical company Boehringer-Ingelheim. We are tackling the toughest challenges in cancer research to bring new treatment options for patients. My job is to make sure we have the right people working on the right problems at the right time. This means I get to interact daily with teams of professionals (scientists and non-scientists) from a diverse range of expertise, cultures and characters. Working with this vibrant collection of people within and external to CeTPD, and our common goal to find a new drug is what drives me forward and keeps me smiling.

Experience prior to working in Dundee

I am a medicinal chemist by training, having spent several years working within the Cambridge (UK) research site of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company. Whilst at Takeda I worked on a broad array of targets in the CNS, metabolic and pain therapeutic areas, including contributing to the invention of two clinically active drugs, Soticlestat (a CH24H inhibitor) and Luvadaxistat (a DAAO inhibitor). I was also able to spend time at Takeda’s Japanese research sites in Osaka and Shona, a formative experience with great people in my early career.

Why work at CeTPD

The last 5 years in Dundee have been one big adventure after the other. We started by seeing if we could build a small team focussed on translating a new therapeutic modality and together with our collaborators and with the wider TPD field we have kept learning, innovating and growing. The potential to learn, diversify and thrive in the scientific environment in Dundee is simply vast, something I have benefited from first-hand.

Life in Dundee

I’m one of the few CeTPD members to live outside Dundee, just down the road in Fife. A night in Dundee is great, but I am always drawn back to the beautiful beaches and coastal paths of the county of Fife. This is definitely the place to go and unwind after a busy week!

Dr Aileen B. Frost, PhD

Scientist Medicinal / Organic Chemistry

I have worked as a medicinal organic chemist within the Boehringer Ingelheim drug discovery collaboration since 2018. My main day-to-day responsibilities focus on the design and synthesis of PROTACs capable of degrading challenging oncology targets. Being able to contribute effectively to this goal requires close interaction with a multi-disciplinary team, located across both Dundee and Vienna. As an organic chemist by training, I have enjoyed the opportunity to learn about all aspects of drug discovery from my talented colleagues and am motivated by the cross-site team spirit and enthusiasm for PROTAC drug discovery within this collaboration.

Upon finishing my D.Phil I undertook a post-doc in organocatalysis with Prof. Andy Smith at the University of St Andrews, which I then followed with a post-doc in radiochemistry with Dr Matthew Tredwell at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim, Germany. Coming from a background in academic research, the opportunity to work in close collaboration with a pharmaceutical company in an academic setting was very attractive to me. The Ciulli group have a well earned reputation as leaders in the field of targeted protein degradation: working at the cutting edge of scientific discovery and applying this to improving treatment options for cancer patients seemed like a unique opportunity, that I was very keen to pursue! The ambition within the team and the wider CeTPD makes this a very exciting place to work and the progress I’ve seen in the last few years leads me to eagerly anticipate the future.

I already knew the city of Dundee well since I had worked previously in nearby St Andrews. My favourite thing about living here is the accessibility of the countryside. I enjoy walking and hiking, and there are many beautiful places to visit within short driving distance. There are also good transport links to Scotland’s other major cities, which makes exploring the country easy. The city itself has some great museums, restaurants and bars, and with affordable accommodation most people choose to live within walking distance of the city centre. This makes it really easy to get people together, and the group overall has an active and welcoming social life.

Tasuku Ishida, PhD

Visiting scientist

I have been working on a collaborative research project between the University of Dundee and Eisai which is a Japanese pharmaceutical company that I’m an employee of. Our project is to develop novel therapeutic methods for treatment of cancers by leveraging the world-leading expertise and technology of the CePTDs research with Eisai’s discovery research as well as findings of target protein degradation based on Eisai’s basic research. I’m a medicinal chemist but my role is not only for designing and synthesizing new molecules but also for discussing and conducting(!) biological work, collaborating with other group members at the University to facilitate the project, and coordinating between CeTPD and Eisai. This is a really challenging but exciting work for me to enhance my scientific skills and knowledge and to accumulate experience for communicating with people from a wide range of backgrounds.

Experience prior to working in Dundee

After obtaining my PhD degree, I joined Eisai in 2005 as a medicinal chemist and was assigned to the Neuroscience research group. I worked on several projects including elenbecestat (BACE1 inhibitor for Alzheimer’s disease, discontinued at Ph III trial). In 2011, I moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, US and worked at H3 Biomedicine, which is 100% Eisai-owned start-up biotech. During of three and a half years stay in the US, I developed a Diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS) library to enrich the chemical diversity of Eisai and expand the chance to obtain key hit compounds for clinically relevant biological targets. I returned to Japan in 2015 and joined the Oncology business group to work on developing new clinical options for treatment of cancers.

Why work at CeTPD

CeTPD is one of the top research groups in the target protein degradation field and I thought jumping into this group would give me a great opportunity to learn about a cutting-edge methodology to develop novel target degradation and expand human networks in this field.

Life in Dundee

Dundee is the fourth largest city in Scotland but a small town (about 150,000 people). The city centre has a variety of stores, restaurants, and of course pubs, all within walking distance. One thing I want to stress is that the nature of Scotland is fabulous so here’s a great place for cyclists to enjoy nice scenery with nice dry and cool weather.

Dr. David Zollman

Leader of the CeTPD-Almirall (AC-Almirall) collaboration team

I head up a team of highly motivated, interdisciplinary scientists within the CeTPD in collaboration with Almirall, a pharmaceutical company based in Barcelona. My job is to help steer a cutting-edge drug discovery project forward with the goal of developing small-molecule degrader compounds as a novel therapeutic intervention to treat inflammatory skin diseases with unmet medical need.

Developing clinical candidates in a new field such as ours presents many challenges and opportunities, so keeping the team focussed on addressing the most important questions of the moment is a key feature of my role. As well as leading my team I’m in the fortunate position of having the flexibility to keep one foot in the lab, where I can continue to contribute to the biophysics and structural biology of the collaboration.

Experience prior to my current role

I conducted my Master’s research project with Prof. Jim Naismith at the University of St Andrews, giving me the best possible introduction to structural biology. I then moved down south to the University of Oxford where I completed my doctorate studies in chemical biology under Prof Chris Schofield. During my DPhil I got to apply my structural biology learnings to the field of drug discovery for the first time in a study looking to optimise inhibitors of MBLs, bacterial proteins responsible for conveying antibiotic resistance to a wide range of pathogens, of which no therapeutic interventions were known. Later in my doctorate, and during a Post-doctoral project with Prof. Akane Kawamura I used structural biology and biophysics to study how DNA is stored in cells, with a focus on nucleosomes and the transcription factors which modulate them. I moved to Dundee in 2018 to join the AC-BI PROTAC collaboration where I was able to apply my structural biology expertise, and greatly expand my biophysical repertoire in a world leading collaboration, helping to progress drug candidates with vast therapeutic potential.

Why work at CeTPD

Targeted protein degradation is currently one of the hottest fields in drug discovery. The newly established CePTD represents both the world-wide excitement there is for the possibilities of this novel modality, as well as the commitment the University of Dundee is making to help this community achieve our full potential. My experience over the last three years in Dundee has convinced me that an underlying ethos of the University is to get the most out of its members it possibly can, which it achieves through actively supporting its staff via the excellent lab managers/technicians and world-class facilities. I could not recommend this University more highly as a place to work.

Life in Dundee

Our team has a thriving social element, with subgroups regularly meeting for badminton, climbing, tennis, squash, hill walking, board games, drinks, watching sports, pole fitness, cycling, snooker/pool computer games etc... so whatever your interests, you’re likely to find likeminded people to join you. Dundee itself is a small city well equipped with amenities, as well as ready links to larger cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow, while also being a gateway to quieter areas such as the Scottish Highlands.

Tom Webb

PhD student

• Integrated Master in Chemistry (2018), Northern Institute for Cancer Research, Newcastle University, UK

I am an iCASE PhD student under the supervision of Professor Alessio Ciulli at the Centre for Targeted Protein Degradation (CeTPD), on the MRC Doctoral Training Programme in Quantitative and Interdisciplinary Approaches to Biomedical Science (QIBIOMED). The project is part-funded by AstraZeneca and I am co-supervised by Dr John Liddle and Dr Johan Johansson at AZ in Gothenburg. My research is focussed on the development of novel methods for the discovery of molecular glues, which can be used for targeted protein degradation. Undertaking a PhD in the group has allowed me to explore a wide range of techniques which complement my core training in medicinal chemistry, with the help of the brilliant group of enthusiastic and passionate scientists that make up CeTPD.

Experience Prior to Working in Dundee

I grew up right down the other end of the UK in Guildford, Surrey. I moved to Newcastle to undertake my MChem degree under the supervision of Professor Mike Waring. My masters project consisted of the design and synthesis of novel peptidomimetics that could be used to expand the range of accessible conformational space in DNA-encoded libraries. Following this, I decided to move somewhere even darker and even colder and spent two years living in Gothenburg, Sweden, where I worked on the AstraZeneca graduate programme. For the majority of my time at AZ, I worked on the design and synthesis of PROTAC degraders for cardiovascular targets which led to my desire to undertake a PhD in the field of targeted protein degradation. We managed to arrange a great collaboration which gave me the opportunity to join Alessio’s group in Dundee, which is arguably another move to a dark and cold place… a pattern is starting to emerge!

Life in Dundee

My favourite thing about Dundee is its accessibility to the countryside, and in particular the Cairngorms National Park. The Cairngorms offer the opportunity for hiking, wild camping, and paddle boarding all within an hour or two drive from Dundee. It’s a real perk to have the city to come back to after spending weekends outside, and everything you need is on the doorstep. The council is investing in the city, and it is great to see the improvements developing over time, for example the recent work at the waterfront.

Why work at CeTPD?

The field of TPD is taking a real foothold in the pharmaceutical industry and feels like it is here to stay. To be involved in research at the cutting edge of such a rapidly growing field in a centre dedicated solely to TPD is really exciting, and we have a unique opportunity to learn from and work alongside colleagues of a range of disciplines. This means we are constantly able to take on new ideas to help us develop as scientists, and gives a strong community feel as we work towards a common goal through our various projects and industry collaborations.