Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology: PhD Studentship in Chemistry- Development of metallodrugs for use in cancer combination therapy

About the Project

Swansea University is looking for a highly motivated candidate for a PhD studentship focused on the development of metallodrugs for use in cancer combination therapy. This exciting project is funded by Cancer Research Wales and offers the opportunity to work at the interface of chemistry, biology and medicine.

The aim is to utilise ruthenium polypyridyl chemistry developed by the Gill group to develop a potent “PARPi sensitizer” that activates PARP inhibitors (PARPi) in BRCA-proficient aggressive ovarian cancer cells. This will involve the targeted chemical design of a lead candidate PARPi sensitizer, a detailed biological analysis of derivative compounds to synergise with clinically employed PARP inhibitors, and the assessment of compound and PARPi combination safety in genotoxicity studies.

Working in both the Medicinal Inorganic Chemistry and Genotoxicity and the In vitro Pharmacology groups at Swansea University led by Dr Martin Gill and Professor Gareth Jenkins, respectively, you will utilise inorganic chemistry to synthesise and characterise a series of “second generation” PARPi sensitizers, perform cytotoxicity assays and mechanistic studies in cancer cell lines, and assess in vitro safety and genotoxicity.