Professor Ian Gilbert
FMedSci FRSE FRSC
Professor/Head of the Drug Discovery Unit
Drug Discovery Unit, School of Life Sciences
Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery, School of Life Sciences

Contact
Websites
Research
Medicinal Chemistry
I am a medicinal chemist and my research interests are in the design and synthesis of potential drugs. The mainstay of my work is synthetic medicinal chemistry as part of the Drug Discovery Unit (DDU). Where possible we make extensive use of molecular modeling to guide our synthetic efforts. I have a particular interests in the following aspects of drug discovery:
Neglected diseases such as human African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis and malaria.
Chemical validation of drug targets, including novel targets for which there is little or no precedence for drug discovery.
Novel approaches to and paradigms for drug discovery.
Mode of action studies and target identification.
I am Head of Chemistry in the DDU. Our main focuses are on neglected diseases and novel drug targets. The neglected diseases we are tackling are malaria, tuberculosis and the kinetoplastid diseases. We use both target-based approaches and phenotypic approaches (whole parasite screening). We have had particular success in validating the enzyme N-myristoyltransferase as a drug target in human African trypanosomiasis, and in identifying and optimising phenotypic hits. In our novel targets area, we aim to validate novel areas of biology as potential drug targets.
Media availability
I am available for media commentary on my research.
Design and synthesis of potential therapeutic agents
Contact Corporate Communications for media enquiries.
Areas of expertise
- Antimicrobial resistance
- Infectious diseases
- Medicines
Awards
Award | Year |
---|---|
Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences | 2021 |
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh | 2020 |
Stories

Press release
Ground-breaking research into new forms of contraception have been boosted significantly with new support.
News
Parliamentarians from across the political spectrum today heard how University of Dundee research could help save millions of lives in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)

News
The Drug Discovery Unit (DDU) is delighted to announce that Professor Ian Gilbert has been appointed to be the Head of the Drug Discovery Unit