Peter Rutledge

Professor Peter Rutledge is Professor of Chemistry and Head of the School of Chemistry in the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney, a role he assumed in March 2023. He has been a faculty member at the University since 2006. Rutledge completed his undergraduate and honours degrees at the University of Auckland and obtained his DPhil in Chemistry from the University of Oxford in 2000. Prior to joining the University of Sydney, he held a postdoctoral fellowship and college lectureship at the Dyson Perrins Laboratory in Oxford, followed by a lectureship in the Centre for Synthesis and Chemical Biology in Dublin. His research and teaching encompass organic, medicinal, and biological chemistry, with particular emphasis on the discovery of new antimicrobial agents and the biosynthesis of natural and unnatural products. He is also engaged in citizen science initiatives and science communication.

The Rutledge Group focuses on developing new drugs and sensors for biomedical applications, chemical solutions to environmental challenges, and biologically inspired catalysts for synthesis. Key projects include the synthesis and evaluation of novel cyclobutanone antibiotics with resistance-activated and double-punch modes of action to battle superbugs; iron-based catalysts mimicking non-heme iron oxidases for selective hydrocarbon oxidation and remediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon pollutants; thiol- and sulfide-rich peptides for sensing and binding heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium; and peptide-based mimics of nitrile hydratase for nitrile hydration and cyanide breakdown. Rutledge has authored numerous publications, including 'Antitubercular Bis-Substituted Cyclam Derivatives: Structure–Activity Relationships' (Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2018), 'Bio-Inspired Nitrile Hydration by Peptidic Ligands Based on L-Cysteine' (Molecules, 2018), and 'Perphenazine–Macrocycle Conjugates Rapidly Sequester the Aβ42 Monomer' (ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 2023). He serves as a judge for the Eureka Prizes, is a Rhodes Scholar (New Zealand & Magdalen College, Oxford, 1995), and received the 2008 NSW Tall Poppy Science Award.

Professional Email: peter.rutledge@sydney.edu.au