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2018 COHORT
Jonathan Andrews
Wadham College
Jonathan is originally from Lincoln (UK) but has spent time living in Mons (Belgium) and Naples and Rome (Italy). He obtained his MChem from the University of Sheffield, during which he did an industrial placement at GlaxoSmithKline. His masters project was completed under the supervision of Dr. Ben Partridge, developing conditions for the copper catalysed Chan-Lam coupling for the use with alkylboronic esters. His academic interests are mostly focused upon developing new methodologies. Outside of the lab, Jonathan spends most of his time on a bike, as he competes in various triathlon and cycling events throughout the year.
Stuart Astle
Hertford College
Stuart is from Carlisle in Cumbria and completed his MChem degree at Worcester College, University of Oxford. During his Part II project under the supervision of Prof Jeremy Robertson, he worked on the synthesis of chiral thiols and the investigation of their uses as chiral auxiliaries for thioester Diels-Alder reactions. Stuart is interested in the development of new synthetic methods and their application towards natural product synthesis. Outside the lab, he enjoys playing football, running and being out in the mountains climbing or hiking.
Elliot Bailey
Lady Margaret Hall
Elliot is the recipient of the Lady Margaret Hall-SBM CDT Graduate Scholarship 2018. Originally from Cheshire, Elliot graduated with a First Class MChem degree from the University of Oxford in 2018. He completed his Part II project with Prof Stuart Conway, working towards the synthesis of (and evaluating the biological activity of) novel hypoxia-activated prodrugs. He has a broad interest in organic chemistry but particularly in its application to the life sciences, where a huge impact can be made. Outside the lab Elliot enjoys playing the guitar and singing, mostly in a functions band called Wayne & the Hairy Peaches, travelling, tutoring chemistry and English, going to gigs, playing cricket, and watching football.
Charles Bell
Lady Margaret Hall
Originally from Manchester, Charlie graduated with a First Class Honours MSci degree in Chemistry from the University of Nottingham. During his third year, he undertook a placement at F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Switzerland, where he was involved in the development of biologically active small molecules for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Charlie completed his Master's project under the supervision of Prof. Hon Lam, investigating the nickel-catalysed, diastereoselective synthesis of 3-methyleneindan-1-ols. His research interests include the development of novel methodologies, in particular their application within medicinal chemistry. Outside the lab, Charlie enjoys playing lots of sports, cooking and travelling.
Zonghua "Ally" Bo
Merton College
Zonghua is the recipient of a China Scholarship Council-University of Oxford joint scholarship. Originally from China, Zonghua completed a first class MChem degree at Wadham College, University of Oxford. During her final year, Zonghua worked in Prof Hagan Bayley's group investigating chemical reactions in droplet networks. Her academic interests lie in chemical biology. In her spare time, Zonghua enjoys cooking, writing, swimming and watching crime TV shows. She runs a blog discussing her experience as an international student in the UK and recommendations for restaurant reviews with more than 2000 subscribers.
Henry Chan
New College
Henry is the recipient of a University of Oxford's Clarendon Scholarship. Originally from Hong Kong, Henry completed his MChem degree at Christ Church College, University of Oxford in 2018. During his fourth year, he worked under the supervision of Prof Chris Schofield, investigating how serine beta-lactamases interact with beta-lactams and contribute to antibiotic resistance. Henry's interests include probe development for understanding biological systems, natural product chemistry and medicinal chemistry, particularly for treating cancer and infections. Outside the lab he enjoys reading, playing badminton and travelling.
Daniella Cheang
University College
Daniella is the recipient of the Oxford-Radcliffe SBM CDT Scholarship 2018. She recently graduated with a First Class Honours MChem degree from the University of York. She completed her Master’s thesis at F. Hoffmann La Roche, Switzerland, exploring the synthesis of novel macrocyclic peptides as antimicrobials. Daniella’s main interests lie in the development of asymmetric methodologies for drug discovery. Outside of chemistry, Daniella loves to travel, ice skate, play netball and go hiking.
Lydia Cox
St Anne's College
Lydia is the recipient of a St Anne's-SBM CDT Graduate Scholarship. She graduated from the University of Bristol where she was awarded the Richard Dixon prize for the best performance on the straight MSci programme. Lydia spent the summer of 2016 with Prof Paul Brennan at the University of Oxford synthesising covalent chemical probes for use in drug discovery. She then spent the following summer on an industrial placement at AstraZeneca in Cambridge working towards more environmentally sustainable Suzuki reactions. Her Master’s project was carried out with Prof John Bower working towards the total synthesis of cytochalasin natural products using a rhodium catalysed cycloaddition. Lydia's academic interests lie towards both natural product total synthesis and the development of novel, metal-catalysed processes. Interests outside of the lab include going to gigs, cooking, watching athletics and playing hockey.
Denis Hartmann
Wolfson College
Originally from a small village in Vorarlberg, Austria, Denis recently graduated with a First Class Honours MChem degree from the University of Oxford, St. Anne’s College. During his Part II year, he worked in Prof Jonathan Burton's group on the synthesis of stereodefined tetrasubstituted alkenes. Previously, Denis did a 2-month summer project at LMU Munich in the Lotsch group, working on moisture-responsive Bragg-reflectors; his research interests span from materials chemistry to total synthesis. Besides the lab, Denis has a passion for cooking and baking, exploring the cuisines of the world. He also enjoys playing the bassoon, longboarding, videogames, languages, arts and literature.
Pol Hernandez Llado
St John's College
Pol is the recipient of a St John's-SBM CDT Partnership Award. Originally from a small village close to Barcelona, Pol recently completed a four-year degree in Chemistry at the University of Barcelona. During this time, he carried out a placement in the Research Unit on Asymmetric Synthesis (Institute for Research in Biomedicine) before moving to London to carry out his final project under the supervision of Prof Alan C Spivey at Imperial College, developing the asymmetric synthesis of phosphorothioate dinucleosides. He then moved to GSK for a placement year where he worked on the design and synthesis of in vitro tool compounds. Outside the lab, Pol enjoys doing exercise, travelling, reading, learning economics and cooking.
Michael Howlett
Wolfson College
Hailing from the South Coast of England, Michael has completed a MSci in Chemistry at Imperial College London, receiving the award for Excellence in Practical Organic Chemistry. As part of his degree programme Michael spent a year alongside medicinal chemists at GSK, Stevenage learning about modern approaches to drug design and synthesis. Prior to this placement, he was awarded funding to join the Tanner lab in British Columbia in 2016 where he worked towards a novel antibiotic class. In his final year project Michael explored a new area in developing air-sensitive frustrated Lewis pair catalysts in a collaboration between the Fuchter and Ashley groups. More recently, Michael took the opportunity to learn about chemical kinetics at the University of Manchester under the direction of Dr Jordi Burés and he looks forward to applying this experience and other physical organic concepts within the SBM CDT. Like many chemists, Michael enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, keeping up with current events and racket sports.
Aidan Kerckhoffs
Balliol College
Aidan is the recipient of a Balliol Snell Exhibition-SBM CDT Scholarship. He is originally from the Netherlands, but mainly grew up abroad in other countries. Aidan graduated in 2017 from the University of Glasgow with a 1st class MSci in Chemistry and five undergraduate awards. During his placement year at Roche in Basel, he worked on synthesising PET tracers to image α-synuclein in Parkinson’s disease. For his final year project in the Jamieson group, he modelled and synthesised stapled peptides to target protein-protein interactions. After graduating, Aidan took a year out, which included a 6-month internship at Syngenta (Stein) exploring ketene-iminium chemistry to make spiro building blocks and fungicides. His academic interests broadly involve organic synthesis and its application to medicinal chemistry and chemical biology. Outside of chemistry, Aidan really enjoys the outdoors, travelling, hiking, guitar and attending music events.
Roman Kucera
Wolfson College
Roman was born and grew up in a small town in the west part of Slovakia called Prievidza. He obtained his Master’s degree from Masaryk University (CZ) under the supervision of Dr Jakub Svenda conducting research dedicated to the total synthesis of biologically active natural products. During his Master’s study, Roman spent one semester as an Erasmus student in Prof. Oliver Reiser’s lab at the University of Regensburg (DE) developing a novel synthesis of Paeonilide. He also conducted a 6-month internship in the research group of Prof. Seth Herzon at Yale University developing new Pleuromutilin based antibiotics. Roman’s academic interests lie in the synthesis of natural products with a medicinal application. In his spare time, Roman is a keen climber and likes hiking, cycling and Arduino programming.
Kathryn Leslie
Magdalen College
Kathryn is the recipient of a Commonwealth PhD Scholarship. Originally from Sydney, Australia, Kate completed her BSc Hons at the University of Sydney working on the synthesis and photophysical characterisation of organic fluorophores. She is interested in chemical biology and supramolecular chemistry, and designing chemical tools for investigating biological systems. In her free time Kate likes to play team sports, go bushwalking, and hang out with friends.
Andrew Maitland
Brasenose College
Originally from Ayr in Scotland, Andrew recently graduated with a First Class MChem from the University of St Andrews. As part of his degree, he spent 12 months working on the design and synthesis of novel herbicides with Syngenta at Jealott's Hill. For his final year in St Andrews, Andrew worked on chalcogen-bonding catalysis under the supervision of Prof. Andrew Smith. His research interests lie in asymmetric catalysis, and he hopes to explore this further during his PhD. In his spare time, Andrew enjoys going to the pub, cooking and baking, and also holds a pilot's licence.
Bruno Marinic
St John's College
Originally from Slovenia, Bruno completed his MChem at St John’s College, University of Oxford in 2018. His Master's project, under the supervision of Prof. Ed Anderson, investigated the synthesis and coupling of cyclic alkenylboronic half esters, with application towards polyene synthesis. He previously worked on radically mediated Diels-Alder reactions under Prof. Tim Donohoe and on the development of new anthelmintic compounds for the whipworm parasite under Prof. Angela Russell. His main interests within the field of organic chemistry lie in the development of new synthetic methodology and its application to drug discovery. In his free time, Bruno enjoys reading, live music and wine.
Ryan McNamee
St Hilda's College
Originally from Tyrone, Northern Ireland, Ryan has completed his MSci degree in Medicinal Chemistry at Queen's University Belfast. In his final year in the Knipe group, Ryan worked on the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of spirocyclic oxindoles. In the year preceding his final year, he also undertook a one-year industrial placement at GlaxoSmithKline synthesising compounds for the potential treatment of respiratory diseases. His current interests lie in the development of asymmetric methodology and novel therapeutics/biological probes, and aside from chemistry he enjoys many outdoor activities.
Hollie Parsons
Lady Margaret Hall
Hollie grew up on The Wirral, Merseyside, and completed her 4-year MChem degree in Chemistry with Research in Industry at the University of Liverpool. During her 3rd year Hollie worked for Eli Lilly as part of the global Technical Services/Manufacturing Science team as a process development chemist. There she worked on a range of projects including scaling up new pharmaceuticals for manufacture and improving the efficiency of existing onsite pharmaceutical manufacturing processes. For her master's project, Hollie worked under Prof. Rick Cosstick and designed and synthesised nucleoside inhibitors designed around PAPS (3′-phosphoadenosine 5′-phosphosulfate) for tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase to investigate biological sulfonation processes. Hollie’s interests lie in natural product total synthesis and drug discovery. In her spare time, she enjoys painting, golf, training with her springer spaniel and being a brownie guide leader.
Jack Ren
Keble College
Jack is the recipient of a University of Oxford's Clarendon Scholarship. Originally from Beijing, China, he graduated with an MSci in Natural Sciences from University College London. Jack completed his 4th year project under the supervision of Dr Vijay Chudasama, where he optimized an addition-elimination reaction of acyl hydrazides. His research interests include the development of new synthetic methods and asymmetric synthesis. Outside of the lab, Jack enjoys reading, watching movies and waking up at unsociable hours to go rowing.
Dániel Rózsár
St Hilda's College
Originally from Esztergom, Hungary, Dániel obtained his BSc and MSc in chemistry at the University of Szeged, Hungary. After his first year, he started to work as a thesis student at Avidin Ltd., a local drug discovery company. His BSc thesis revolved around the in-depth investigation of a novel Brønsted acidic organocatalyst, with particular emphasis on the reaction mechanisms, and applications in synthetic organic chemistry. For his Master's dissertation, Dániel undertook an internship at Servier working on the synthesis of unknown heterocyclic entities with multicomponent and cascade strategies. During his degree he also took part in two summer schools in Tromsø, at The Arctic University of Norway, focusing on the industrial applications of organic chemistry and bioactive substance research. Dániel enjoys every aspect of organic chemistry, but is particularly interested in heterocyclic chemistry, multicomponent reactions, and homogeneous catalysis. When not in the lab, he enjoys hanging out with his friends, playing the guitar and watching a good movie.
Philip Smith
Keble College
Philip completed his MChem at Keble College, University of Oxford. During his Part II year he worked under the supervision of Prof Tim Donohoe on iridium-catalysed interrupted transfer hydrogenation of pyridinium salts to form substituted tetrahydropyridines and piperidines. Philip is interested in the development of synthetic methodologies and their application to the synthesis of biologically relevant compounds, in particular natural products. Outside of the lab, he enjoys walking and getting involved in a wide range of activities at his church.
Pearse Solon
Wadham College
Originally from Ireland, Pearse completed his MChem degree at Balliol College, Oxford in 2017. For his master’s project he worked under the supervision of Prof. Martin Smith to devise new synthetic routes to indole-derived atropisomers, and on the phase-transfer mediated kinetic resolution of the resulting compounds. Pearse’s academic interests include asymmetric synthesis, and the applications of synthetic organic chemistry in chemical biology. In his free time, Pearse enjoys baking, spending time with friends, reading, and keeping fit by running.
Mary Wilson
Merton College
Mary grew up in Buckinghamshire and received her MChem from the University of Oxford in 2018. She completed her Master's project under the supervision of Prof Stuart Conway on the use of dynamic combinatorial chemistry to identify novel activators for the Gram-negative bacteria potassium efflux system. During her degree, Mary did a summer internship at the Institute of Cancer Research in London under the supervision of Prof Ian Collins, working on the synthesis of inhibitors for the microtubule-associated kinesin HSET which plays a critical role in the survival of centrosome-amplified breast cancer cells. In her spare time, Mary plays the piano and cello, reads, sews clothes, and spends time with her family.
Jonathan Yong
Lincoln College
Jon is the recipient of a University of Oxford's Clarendon Scholarship. Born in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, Jon spent much of his childhood there before moving to Singapore. Jon was an undergraduate at Lincoln College, University of Oxford, and worked in Prof. Ed Anderson's group for his Part II project, which focused on the development of Rh-catalysed asymmetric ynamide cycloisomerisations. During the course of his DPhil, he hopes to learn more about the use of physical techniques – particularly NMR – to study organic reactions and molecules. Outside of the lab, Jon plays the violin, flute, and piano (although not all at the same time), and also enjoys occasionally baking.
