Dear all
I have a new studentship open, “Fragment to Field”, to work on the
details of how to use fragment approaches for crop science.
Please circulate to any students you’re aware are interested in this
kind of thing.
Webpage is here: https://www.ndm.ox.ac.uk/study/dphil-themes?project=fragment-to-field
Deadline is January 7th (quite soon, sorry).
Frank
Theme Overview
This is an EPSRC-funded iCASE project, both home, and overseas
candidates are welcome to apply, closing date to be considered for
funding is Friday 7 January 2022.
Herbicide resistance has become a major worldwide problem which
is affecting humanity’s ability to cost-effectively feed itself
and this is particularly felt in developing nations. The
identification and development of novel and safe herbicides is
required to control weeds that have evolved resistance to the
existing herbicides. Fragment-based design is a very effective way
of finding exciting new starting points for inhibitors and is
potentially well suited to herbicide research where many key plant
targets are soluble. A significant challenge of this approach is
the conversion of hits to a potent inhibitor as it is slow and
expensive. Therefore, the aim of this project is to develop
workflows and methods to improve the efficiency of this step.
The key research question that will be addressed during the
course of the studentship are:
- Does crystal-based fragment screening accelerate discovery of
plant-targeting chemical matter? - What strategies and rules are appropriate for plant-targeting
compound design? - How can these strategies be incorporated into workflows and
algorithms for compound design? - On what principles should plant-based protein targets be
selected for these strategies?
Training opportunities
We offer a DPhil position as part of a collaboration between the
Centre for Medicines Discovery and Syngenta. The project entails
excellent training in a wealth of scientific cutting-edge
techniques, such as molecular biology and protein biochemistry in
an industry-leading automated facility at the CMD, protein
crystallography and small-angle X-ray scattering at the Diamond
Light Source (DLS), single-particle Cryo-Electron Microscopy,
structure-based fragment screening, and Artificial
Intelligence-based fragment progression approaches in
small-molecule drug discovery. Additionally, the PhD candidate
will receive training in biophysical techniques such as Isothermal
Titration Calorimetry, Surface Plasmon Resonance, Biolayer
Interferometry, and Microscale Thermophoresis among others, all
available at CMD facilities. As part of this PhD studentship, the
candidate will have the opportunity to spend 3 months at Syngenta,
a unique opportunity to get an insight into industrial research
and to build a professional network.
Prof Frank von Delft Professor for Structural Chemical Biology Principal Beamline Scientist: I04-1/XChem Diamond Light Source +44 1235 778997 (office: M,T,T) Principal Investigator: Protein Crystallography Centre for Medicines Discovery Oxford University +44 1865 617583 (office: W,F) +44 7471 026103 (mobile)