Robin J. LEATHERBARROW

Prof., Chemistry, Imperial College London

Professor Robin Leatherbarrow is Chair of Chemical Biology and Head of the Biological and Biophysical Chemistry Section within the Chemistry Department. He is one of the leading UK chemical biologists and has been greatly involved in the promotion and development of this new area of chemistry over recent years. His research is concerned with molecular recognition between proteins and their ligands, which involves a multidisciplinary blend of physical and biological sciences, ranging from structural biology, through enzymology to synthetic chemistry.
A leading exponent of protein engineering, he was involved at the outset in pioneering work in this area along with Sir Alan Fersht. Since then, he has advanced methods to study ligand binding, particularly concerning enzyme-inhibitor interactions. His work on the study and rational design of enzyme inhibitors has attracted considerable industrial interest from leading pharmaceutical companies. Most of his research efforts involve the application of biophysical or chemical tools to new areas of biology. He has particular interest in peptide synthesis, modern enzymology and developing new enzyme inhibitors. Biological interests include the action of protease enzymes as well as other peptide-modifying enzymes.

Robin is on the management committee of the Chemical Biology Centre, which co-ordinates activities between Imperial College, the Institute for Cancer Research and the London Research Institute of Cancer Research UK. He is responsible for establishing the first EU Marie Curie Centre in Chemical Biology in the UK. Robin is on the committees of the Biophysical Chemistry and Peptide and Protein Science groups of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

EDUCATION

• PH.D., Biochemistry, Exeter College, Univ. of Oxford
• B.S. (Hons.), 1st Class, Biochemistry, Univ. of Liverpool

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• Acting Head, Dept. of Chemistry, Imperial College London
• Head of Research, Dept. of Chemistry, Imperial College London
• Prof. of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London
• Head of Section, Biological and Biophysical Chemistry, Imperial College London
• Reader in Biological Chemistry, Dept. of Chemistry, Imperial College London
• Lecturer in Biological Chemistry, Dept. of Chemistry, Imperial College London
• Royal Society Pickering Research Fellowship, Dept. of Chemistry, Imperial College London
• M.R.C. Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Chemistry, Imperial College London
• Research Lecturer, Christ Church, Oxford; Dept. of Biochemistry, Oxford

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My overall interests concern protein molecular recognition, particularly with respect to the drug discovery processes. To study this requires a diverse range of skills, and my expertise is varied and extensive. I have published extensively in the following areas:

Protein Engineering. As o

in DNA manipulation and site-directed mutagenesis.

Peptide Chemistry.

I have a long-standing interest in peptide chemistry as the route to generate proteinase inhibitors.

Protein NMR.

I have extensive knowledge of the application of high-field NMR to study proteins and determine structural information from such analyses.

Enzymology and Kinetics.

I am internationally known for my expertise in kinetic analysis. Computer software developed by me for data fitting of enzyme data is very widely used (>10,000 scientists world-wide), and is the accepted data analysis package used by many large pharmaceutical companies (e.g. GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer).

Inhibitor design related to drug discovery.

For several years, my research has been carried out with funding and collaboration from the pharmaceutical industry (particularly GlaxoSmithKline). This work has focused upon construction of proteinase inhibitors by rational design methods