Rate My Professor Jason Micklefield

Micklefield's research encompasses the discovery, characterization, and engineering of biosynthetic pathways to produce novel bioactive natural products, especially antibiotics addressing antimicrobial resistance and neglected diseases. He also develops biocatalytic processes and integrated chemo-biocatalysis for sustainable pharmaceutical synthesis, alongside nucleic acid chemistry for therapeutics and functional tools such as riboswitches and aptamers. Notable publications include 'Discovery, Characterisation and Engineering of Ligases for Amide Synthesis' (Nature, 2021), 'Merging Enzymes with Chemocatalysis for Sustainable Amide Bond Synthesis' (Nature Communications, 2022), 'Cryptic enzymatic assembly of peptides armed with β-lactone warheads' (Nature Chemical Biology, 2024), 'A vitamin K-dependent carboxylase is involved in antibiotic biosynthesis' (Nature Catalysis, 2018), and 'Integrated Catalysis Opens New Arylation Pathways via Regiodivergent Enzymatic C-H Activation' (Nature Communications, 2016). His contributions have earned him the Royal Society of Chemistry Interdisciplinary Prize (2022), Bader Award (2019), Horizon Prize – The Rita and John Cornforth Award (2023), and Natural Product Reports Lecture Award (2008). He has co-directed the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Integrated Catalysis and directed the BBSRC Natural Product Discovery and Bioengineering Network, leading a diverse research group of over 100 members.