Rate My Professor Ben Capuano

Ben Capuano is Associate Professor in Medicinal Chemistry at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences within the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Monash University. He obtained his PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from Monash University in 2001 and has accumulated over 20 years of experience as a synthetic medicinal chemist. Previously serving as Senior Lecturer in the same faculty, Capuano now leads research focused on the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of small biomolecules targeting G protein-coupled receptors implicated in schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease. His work also encompasses analogues of the opium poppy-derived alkaloid noscapine as novel anticancer agents, allosteric modulators of central muscarinic receptors for Alzheimer's disease treatment, and fragment-based drug discovery for inhibitors of the enzymes DsbA as potential antibacterial agents and HIV-integrase as anti-HIV agents. Expertise includes solution and solid-phase organic synthesis, comprehensive chemical purification and characterisation, molecular modeling techniques such as virtual screening and docking, and training in in vitro functional and behavioural assays.

Capuano has produced 97 research articles, 4 review articles, 2 letters, 1 book chapter, and 3 additional outputs, with his publications appearing in high-impact journals including Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters. Key publications include 'The Prosperity and Adversity of M4 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor Activators in the Treatment of Neuropsychiatric Disorders' (2025, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry), 'Discovery of 2-Methyl-5-(1H-pyrazol-4-yl)pyridines and Related Heterocycles as Promising M4 mAChR Positive Allosteric Modulators for the Treatment of Neurocognitive Disorders' (2024, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry), 'A novel chemoreactive calcilytic for the potential treatment of autosomal dominant hypocalcemia' (2025, Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B), and 'Identification of an Allene Warhead That Selectively Targets a Histidine Residue in the Escherichia coli Oxidoreductase Enzyme DsbA' (2025, ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters). His research has received approximately 2,850 citations. As Chief Investigator, he leads projects such as 'Modulation of the M4 muscarinic receptor for the treatment of schizophrenia'. Capuano has supervised 23 PhD students to completion over 18 years and 19 Honours students, earning the Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Supervision in 2022 and Lecturer of the Year in 2007.