UNCITI-BROCETA GROUP
Edinburgh Cancer Research UK Centre, MRC Institute of Genetics & Molecular Medicine
University of Edinburgh
ALUMNI
Dr Jason
Weiss
Supported by a Darwin International Scholarship and an Edinburgh Global Overseas Research Scholarship, Jason did his PhD on a pioneering project that resulted in the development of a new class of prodrugs that are activated by palladium catalysis.
Publications from his thesis:
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Nature Communications 2014, 5, 3277.
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Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2014, 57, 5395-5404.
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Frontiers in Chemistry 2014, 2, 56.
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Scientific Reports 2015, 5, 9329.
Current:
Senior Manager at STEMCELL Technologies (Vancouver, Canada)
Dr Craig
Fraser
Funded by a MRC Doctoral Training Grant, Craig worked on a novel approach to develop small molecule kinase inhibitors with anticancer properties, which led to the discovery of the first in vivo-active SRC/nonABL inhibitor eCF506 and the highly selective mTOR inhibitor eCF309.
Publications from his thesis:
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MedChemComm 2016, 7, 471-477.
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Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2016, 59, 4697–4710.
Current:
CEO and Founder of Ailsa Consulting (Hafnarfjörður, Iceland)
Dr Sam Myers
Funded by Scottish Power and Cancer Research UK, Sam developed a novel ligand-based phenotypic drug discovery strategy for the development of novel anticancer kinase inhibitors with preferential antiproliferative activity against chemoresistant models of cancer.
Publications from his thesis:
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Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2016, 59, 3593–3608.
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Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2018, 61, 2104–2110.
Current:
Medical Writer at Lo.Li. Pharma srl (Rome, Italy)
Dr Thomas Bray
Supported by both the Principal's Career and Development Scholarship and the Edinburgh Global Research Scholarship, Thomas worked on novel palladium-activated bioorthogonal prodrugs.
Publications from his thesis:
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Chemical Science 2018, 9, 7354-7361.
Current:
Senior Director Sales APAC - Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd (Oxford, UK)
Dr Carolin Temps
Supported by the Principal's Career and Development Scholarship, Carolin worked on the preclinical development of the selective SRC inhibitor eCF506.
Publications from his thesis:
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Cancer Research 2021, 81, 5438-5450.
Current:
Associate Director Portfolio Strategy at Sobi (Basel, Switzerland)
Dan Baillache
Supported by a MRS PhD studentship, Dan worked on the development of novel antiproliferative agents against glioblastoma multiforme.
Publications from his thesis:
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RSC Med Chem. 2021, 11, 1112-1135.
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RSC Med Chem. 2023,
Current:
Trainee Patent Attorney at Brand Murray Fuller (London, UK)
Cecilia C. Ayala-Aguilera
Supported by CONACyT, Cecilia developed novel antiproliferative kinase inhibitors against oesophageal cancer.
Publications from his thesis:
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J Med Chem. 2022, 65, 1047-1131.
Current:
Voluntary worker (Bologna, Italy)
FORMER POSTDOCS
Dr Belén Rubio-Ruiz
Supported first by a Martín Escudero Foundation Fellowship and then by a Marie Curie Fellowship, Belén worked on novel Pd-activated prodrugs and Pd nanomaterials for anticancer therapy.
Publications from her time in our lab:
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Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2016, 59, 9974-9980.
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ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2018, 10, 3341-48.
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Nat. Catalysis 2019, 2, 864-872.
Current:
Athenea3i Reseach Fellow (H2020-MSCA and UGR cofund) at the Universidad de Granada and GENyO (Granada, Spain)
Dr Ana
Pérez-
López
Supported by EPSRC grant EP/N021134/1, Ana worked on developing gold and palladium-activatable precursors of bioactive small molecules for cancer therapy.
Publications from her time in our lab:
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Angew. Chemie 2017, 56, 12548-12552.
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ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2018, 10, 3341-48.
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Nat. Catalysis 2019, 2, 864-872.
Current:
IPODI Fellow (H2020-MSCA and TU Berlin cofund) of the Institute of Biotechnology at TU Berlin (Germany).
Dr Teresa Valero
Supported by a Marie Curie Fellowship and later by EPSRC, Tere worked on novel the development and screening of novel kinase inhibitors and prodrug strategies.
Publications from her time in our lab:
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Bioconjugate Chemistry 2018, 29, 3154-3160.
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Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry 2020, 28, 115215.
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J. Med. Chem. 2021, 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00963.
Current:
Marie Curie Fellow (H2021-MSCA) at the Universidad de Granada and GENyO (Granada, Spain)
Dr Shiao Chow
Supported by a Marie Curie Fellowship and later by a collaboration with Prof Liz Patton, Shiao work on bioorthogonal technologies.
Publications from her time in our lab:
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JACS Au 2022, 2, 1747-1756.
Current:
Chancellor's Fellow at University of Strathclyde
Dr Mari Carmen Ortega
Supported by as a MSCA Fellow, Mari Carmen worked on the development of novel catalytic devices capable to mediate bioorthogonal chemistry for biomedical applications.
Publications from her time in our lab:
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Angew. Chemie 2022, 134, e202111461.
Current:
PostdoctoralFellow at the Universidad de Granada (Spain)
Dr Rafa
Contreras-Montoya
Supported by a MSCA postdoctoral fellowship, Rafa worked in the development of novel bio-orthogonal catalysis-based therapeutic tools.
Current:
MSCA Fellow at the Universidad de Granada (Spain)
FORMER STUDENTS AND VISITORS
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Chiara Roccatello (Visiting PhD student, 2023).
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Elsa Smith (Honours student, 2023).
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Juan Gurruchaga (Visiting PhD student, 2019-2020).
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Luis Álvarez de Cienfuegos (Visiting Professor, 2019).
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Anna Wijngaard (Honours student, 2019).
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Rafael Contreras (Visiting PhD Student, 2018).
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Álvaro Lorente (Visiting PhD Student, 2017).
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Hector Yiannakas (Postgrad Summer Student, 2017).
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Olga Cruz-Lopez (Visiting Professor, 2017).
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Hannah Marlow (Undergrad Student, 2016).
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Beatrice Longo (Erasmus Student, 2016).
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Inês Lains-Cardoso (Erasmus Student, 2016).
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Richard Crispin (PhD Student, 2013-2017). 1st supervisor: Dr E Elizabeth Patton. 2nd supervisor: Dr A Unciti-Broceta.
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Prabha Peramuhendige (PhD Student, 2011-2015). 1st supervisor: Dr Aymen Idris. 2nd supervisor: Dr A Unciti-Broceta.