I work in the Cheminformatics Team lead by Andrew Pannifer. We take large chemical databases and apply data science to them to answer questions about drug-design.
Currently, I’m working on an exciting project with clinical trials and patent data as part of a new grant application.
My background is in the Life Sciences industry, covering mostly structural chemistry and structural biology along with the understanding of chemical and structural activity; I trained as a structural chemist.
I haven’t been at MDC very long, since August 2019, but before this, I worked as a software developer. Now I can use both skill sets while developing new ones to support the SME community. I am always learning new things, not just about programming, but also science and medicinal chemistry; it’s a joy!
I like to combine programming and chemistry: it is a good intellectual challenge. Writing code is a sought-after skill and I wanted to apply it for solving scientific problems that I am interested in.
I was particularly attracted to the Cheminformatics and software development side. My role in Cheminformatics requires both a thorough understanding of chemistry and, of course, the ability to do programming. Luckily, I have both of these skills which makes this job a perfect match for me.
At first, I had several reservations going into programming as it is perceived as a male-dominated field. However, I find that this is a perfect job for women scientists with good logical thinking but without much desire to deal with the physical part of working in the lab. Programming can also offer flexible working; your job can be done anywhere as long as you have a computer.
I am happy about having contributed a few crystal structures to the Protein Data Bank. Now, I am enjoying participating in the analysis on top of providing the data.
I enjoy cooking, reading and watching plenty of movies. My most recent discovery was Neil Gaiman, I like how he mixes reality with fantasy elements in his books.
Because I enjoy reading, I’m excited about MDC’s book exchange. A great chance to get to discover some new writers!
I always look forward to going back home to Budapest for the holidays to meet family and friends, see a play in a theatre, and have some poppy seed pastry rolls.
By looking beyond the diffraction limit, we have established a method to quantitatively distinguish low-grade breast cancers that appear identical by traditional means. Ultimately, this nanoscale insight could expand access to novel HER2-targeted therapies by reliably identifying low expressing cohorts that would benefit from intervention.
Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are recognised as a leading delivery platform following clinical success in vaccine and therapeutic applications. Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) has built a preclinical platform to evaluate LNPs against two major challenges in the field. In this blog, Lead Scientist, Dr Phil Auckland, presents a case study of this workflow using intravenously administered LNPs encapsulating mRNA, which differentially target four major liver cell types.
Opening new avenues for RNA therapeutics through a preclinical screening and optimisation platform. In this blog, Lead Scientist Dr Phil Auckland describes how applying this platform to a library of 4,500 lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulations enabled the identification of novel candidates with desirable mechanistic properties and in vivo functionality. Furthermore, we show that integrating multiple in vitro readouts can enhance prediction and thereby improve translation.
