Research Supervisor Connect

Medicinal Chemistry and Biology - Development of Novel Anti-Tumour Agents for Cancer Treatment

Summary

This project is involved in the exciting development of novel drugs for the treatment of cancer and other conditions.

Supervisor

Professor Des Richardson.

Research location

Camperdown - School of Medical Sciences - Bosch Institute

Program type

PHD

Synopsis

This exciting project involves the design, synthesis and testing of novel drugs for the treatment of cancer and requires a student with an interest in pharmacology and medicinal chemistry. It includes the examination of structure-activity relationships and analysis of the mechanisms involved in their anti-cancer activity. The project uses techniques from a wide range of disciplines including cell and molecular biology, chemistry, physiology, pharmacology and biochemistry. This work follows on from exciting recent studies in our laboratory that have successfully identified a highly active group of anti-tumour agents that will enter clinical trials

  • Whitnall, M., Howard, J. Ponka, P. and Richardson, D.R. A class of iron chelators with a wide spectrum of potent anti-tumor activity that overcome resistance to chemotherapeutics. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2006;103:14901-6
  • Richardson, D.R., Sharpe, P.C., Lovejoy, D.B., Senaratne, D., Kalinowski, D.S., Islam, M., Bernhardt, P.V. (2006) Dipyridyl thiosemicarbazone chelators with potent and selective anti-tumor activity form iron complexes with marked redox activity. J. Med. Chem. 49(22):6510-6521).
A scholarship is available to support this project. Applicants must be Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents or New Zealand citizens. The scholarship stipend is equivalent to Australian Post-Graduate Award Rates.

Additional information

Scholarships:

  • Ph.D Scholarships are available to high quality students.
Techniques: The work involves a wide range of modern techniques including:-
  • cell culture
  • molecular biology
  • X-ray crystallography
  • animal biology

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Opportunity ID

The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is 7