Rate My Professor Allan Gamble

Allan Gamble is Associate Professor in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Otago. He obtained a Bachelor of Medicinal Chemistry and a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Wollongong in 2008, where his doctoral research under Professor Paul Keller focused on the synthesis of anti-viral agents. Subsequently, he undertook postdoctoral research at the Australian National University with Professor Chris Easton on peptide hormone regulation in cancer. In 2011, he received an American-Australian Sir Keith Murdoch Postdoctoral Fellowship to work with Professor Paul Wender at Stanford University on drug delivery. In May 2012, he joined the University of Otago as Lecturer in Medicinal Chemistry, was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2016, and to Associate Professor in 2023.

Gamble's research interests encompass synthetic and medicinal chemistry, bioorganic chemistry, drug delivery, and chemical biology. His group develops bioorthogonal prodrugs for selective activation in tumor environments to enhance cancer therapy efficacy and minimize side effects, with a focus on colorectal cancer. This work is supported by funding from the Health Research Council ($1,199,997 grant), Marsden Fund, Maurice Wilkins Centre, Breast Cancer Cure, Lotteries Health, and Otago Medical Research Foundation. Notable awards include the 2023 School of Pharmacy Research Excellence Award, 2018 University of Otago Early Career Award for Distinction in Research, 2017 School of Pharmacy Emerging Researcher Award, and 2016 OUSA Health Sciences and New Supervisor of the Year Award. He serves as Chair of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry Otago branch and Chair of NZIC-24 conference. Key publications feature "Site-specific antimicrobial activity of a dual-responsive ciprofloxacin prodrug" (Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2024), "Bioorthogonal prodrug activation driven by a strain-promoted 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition" (Chemical Science, 2015), and "Proteases and protease inhibitors in infectious diseases" (Medicinal Research Reviews, 2018). Gamble teaches chemical biology, medicinal chemistry, and analytical chemistry in the Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Bachelor of Pharmacy programmes, and supervises several PhD students and postdoctoral fellows.