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:
1. Does crystal-based fragment screening accelerate discovery of
plant-targeting chemical matter?
2. What strategies and rules are appropriate for plant-targeting
compound design?
3. How can these strategies be incorporated into workflows and
algorithms for compound design?
4. 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)
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