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The School of Pharmacy, University of London

Dr Geoff Wells

Position

Lecturer in Medicinal Chemistry

Areas of Expertise

Medicinal chemistry, anticancer and antimicrobial drug discovery, DNA-targeted drug discovery, design and synthesis of novel bioactive compounds.

Biography

Dr Geoff Wells is a Lecturer in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry at The School of Pharmacy, University of London. He graduated in Pharmacy with first class honors in 1993 from the University of Nottingham. He pursued a PhD in medicinal chemistry at the University of Nottingham under the supervision of Professor Malcolm Stevens, graduating in 1998. After a period as a postdoctoral researcher working on anticancer drug discovery projects in Nottingham, he spent four years as a postdoctoral researcher in the Gene Targeted Drug Design Research Group at the School of Pharmacy, University of London. This was followed by two years working for Pharminox Ltd, an anticancer drug discovery company, as Drug Discovery Project Leader. In October 2007, Dr Wells took up the position of Lecturer in Medicinal Chemistry at The School of Pharmacy.

Research interests

Dr Wells’ research interests are directed towards the discovery of agents for the prevention and treatment of cancer and other life threatening diseases. His research work has focused on the design and synthesis of compound classes that affect redox homeostasis, interact with DNA in a sequence selective manner and that have selective cytotoxicity profiles. His work to date has resulted in the publication of five patents for agents under preclinical investigation. His current interests include the rational design of agents that interact with molecular targets of relevance to the chemoprevention of cancer such as the Keap1-Nrf2 system involved in the regulation of antioxidant response element genes.

Internal and external Collaborations

  • Professor John Hayes, University of Dundee & Professor Andy Gescher, University of Leicester (Cancer chemoprevention projects)
  • Professor Malcolm Stevens & Dr Marc Hummersone, University of Nottingham & Pharminox Ltd (Drug discovery projects)
  • Dr Sarah Harris, University of Leeds (Molecular modeling and molecular dynamics)
  • Professor David Thurston, School of Pharmacy (Protein-protein interaction studies)
  • Professor Stephen Neidle, School of Pharmacy (Molecular modeling and virtual screening)

Funding Sources

  • Cancer Research UK Career Establishment Award (2009-2014)
  • EPSRC Industrial CASE Studentship (2008-2011)

Professional activities

Member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the British, European and American Associations of Cancer Research.

Selected Publications

  1. Aiello, S.; Wells, G.; Stone, E. L.; Kadri, H.; Bazzi, R.; Bell, D. R.; Stevens, M. F. G.; Matthews, C. S.; Bradshaw, T. D.; Westwell, A. D. Synthesis and Biological Properties of Benzothiazole, Benzoxazole, and Chromen-4-one Analogues of the Potent Antitumor Agent 2-(3,4-Dimethoxyphenyl)-5-fluorobenzothiazole (PMX 610, NSC 721648). J. Med. Chem. 2008, in press.
  2. Duchesne, L.; Wells, G.; Fernig, D.; Harris, S.; Levy, R. Supramolecular domains in mixed self-assembled monolayers on gold nanoparticles. ChemBioChem 2008, in press.
  3. Kotecha, M.; Kluza, J.; Wells, G.; O’Hare, C. C.; Forni, C.; Mantovani, R.; Howard, P. W.; Morris, P.; Thurston, D. E.; Hartley, J. A.; Hochhauser, D. Inhibition of DNA binding of the NF-Y transcription factor by the pyrrolobenzodiazepine-polyamide conjugate GWL-78. Mol. Cancer Ther. 2008, 7, 1319-1328.
  4. Wells, G.; Martin, C. R. H.; Howard, P. W.; Sands, Z. A.; Laughton, C. A.; Tiberghien, A.; Woo, C-K.; Masterson, L. A.; Stephenson, M. J.; Hartley, J. A.; Jenkins, T. C.; Shnyder, S. D.; Loadman, P. M.; Waring, M. J.; Thurston, D. E. Design, synthesis and biophysical and biological evaluation of a series of pyrrolobenzodiazepine–poly(N-methylpyrrole) conjugates. J. Med. Chem. 2006, 49, 5442-5461.
  5. Mortimer, C. G.; Wells, G.; Crochard, J. P.; Stone, E.; Bradshaw, T. D.; Stevens, M. F. G.; Westwell, A. D. Antitumor benzothiazoles. 26. 2-(3,4-Dimethoxyphenyl)-5-fluorobenzothiazole (GW610, NSC 721648), a simple fluorinated 2-arylbenzothiazole, shows potent and selective inhibitory activity against lung, colon, and breast cancer cell lines. J. Med. Chem. 2006, 49, 179-185.
  6. Bradshaw, T. D.; Matthews, C. S.; Cookson, J.; Chew, E-H.; Shah, M.; Bailey, K.; Monks, A.; Harris, E.; Westwell, A. D.; Wells, G.; Laughton, C. A.; Stevens, M. F. G. Elucidation of thioredoxin as a molecular target for antitumor quinols. Cancer Res. 2005, 65, 3911-3919.
  7. Berry, J. M.; Bradshaw, T. D.; Fitchner, I.; Ruobo, R.; Schwalbe, C. H.; Wells, G.; Chew, E-H.; Stevens, M. F. G.; Westwell, A. D. Quinols as novel therapeutic agents. 2. 4(1-Arylsulfonylindol-2-yl)-4-hydroxycyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-ones and related agents as potent and selective antitumor agents. J. Med. Chem. 2005, 48, 639-644.
  8. Wells, G.; Berry, J. M.; Bradshaw, T. D.; Burger, A. M.; Seaton, A.; Wang, B.; Westwell, A. D.; Stevens, M. F. G.  4-Substituted-4-hydroxycyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-ones with selective activities against colon and renal cancer cell lines. J. Med. Chem. 2003, 46, 532-541.

[extended list of publications...]