How did you get interested in Medicinal Chemistry?

My interest in medicinal chemistry started during my undergraduate studies when I enrolled in my initial Organic Chemistry class. It was one of those subjects that felt like assembling puzzles—complex yet highly rewarding. What truly captivated me was a talk I went to regarding multicomponent reactions (MCRs) and their uses in pharmaceutical science. The effectiveness and beauty of these reactions were fascinating, and I was drawn to their ability to enhance drug development.

Starting from that moment, my curiosity grew even stronger. Throughout my undergraduate education, I focused on the complexities of organic chemistry, establishing a solid foundation and acquiring a clear insight into the connection between these concepts and pharmaceutical matters. When I began my Master’s, I focused on multicomponent reactions in synthetic organic chemistry. This experience has not only sharpened my abilities but also enhanced my understanding of how chemistry can propel innovation in drug creation and advancement. For me, medicinal chemistry represents the ideal convergence of science, creativity, and influence.

How would you explain what your research area is to non-scientists?

My research focused on multicomponent reactions (MCRs) towards the design and synthesis of peptidomimetics, which are compounds that imitate natural peptides and hold promise for use in drug development. To make this understandable for non-scientists, I frequently compared it to a recipe in which various components are mixed together in one step to produce a dish. In my scenario, the components are chemicals, and the dish represents a molecule with medical promise. I think that employing common analogies in this way makes science easier to understand and helps connecting complex concepts with practical comprehension.

What do you like best about your work?

What I enjoy most about research is the intellectual freedom it provides and the opportunity to satisfy my natural curiosity. I also value how research encourages personal growth. It’s an environment where you can wrestle with challenges, test your ideas, and evolve through those experiences.

What kind of skills does your work require?

Beyond technical expertise, research heavily relies on soft skills. In my view, collaboration is one of the most critical skills. Being able to work within a team, support one another, and cultivate a non-competitive, cooperative environment is the key. A positive and collaborative atmosphere also makes the work enjoyable.

Equally important are innovative thinking and creativity. Staying curious and keeping up with the latest research trends enables you to think outside the box and stay ahead. Lastly, optimism is vital. You need the mindset to tackle problems head-on and persist in finding solutions, even if that means taking alternative pathways.

What do you consider your greatest achievement in your scientific career?

There are two significant milestones in my scientific career. The first is my soon-to-be-published paper on exploring interrupted MCRs toward peptidomimetics. This paper is the culmination of two years of hard work and overcoming numerous challenges.

The second milestone is being selected for an oral communication at EFMC-ISMC 2024. EFMC-ISMC is one of the most prestigious international conferences in the field of medicinal chemistry, where presentations are typically given by professors and PhD candidates. I had the honor of presenting at this conference shortly after completing my Master’s degree. This experience was transformative for me as a scientist, as it allowed me to present my research to some of the leading experts in the field and boosted my confidence in my work.

What would you like to ask from other medicinal chemists?

As one of my professors often says I encourage them to embrace interdisciplinarity and nurture a scientific community that includes various voices and viewpoints. It’s essential to create an environment where scientists from various disciplines collaborate, as it prevents the risks of echo chambers that reinforce current ideas without confronting them with opposing perspectives.

What is the most embarrassing thing you have done in the lab while doing experiments, e.g. explosions?

One of my most embarrassing moments in the lab happened when I spent an entire day performing column chromatography to purify a product. I ended up with two separate sets of fractions in flasks—one containing the product and the other containing the starting material. While cleaning my lab bench, I accidentally threw away the flask with the purified product and kept the starting material! After realizing my mistake, I had to repeat the entire synthetic procedure and purification process from scratch.

What are your recommendations for a book, podcast, website, blog, YouTube channel or film?

One of my favorite books is The Drug Hunters by Donald R. Kirsch, which provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how medicines are discovered. I also recommend the YouTube channel CosmeticChemist, which offers valuable insights into cosmetic formulation and industry secrets from a scientific perspective.

Which scientist do you admire the most and why?

I deeply admire Gertrude Elion, an innovative female scientist in medicinal chemistry and a recipient of the Nobel Prize. Her innovative research resulted in the development of life saving drugs, including those for leukemia, autoimmune disorders, and organ transplant rejection. What I find most inspiring is her unconventional path to science. She followed her passion in spite of social obstacles and restricted chances for women in the industry during that period. Her innovation and determination in applying rational drug design without structural details laid the foundation for numerous contemporary drug discovery techniques. In my view, she represents resilience, creativity, and the influence an individual can exert on worldwide health.

Which field of medicinal chemistry do you consider the most promising for the future?

I believe the intersection of medicinal chemistry and artificial intelligence (AI) holds great potential, as demonstrated by this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Utilizing AI in drug discovery and design can speed up the development timeline, lower expenses, and assist in pinpointing new compounds with enhanced accuracy. The combination of chemistry and computational capabilities can also facilitate personalized medicine, customizing treatments to meet the specific needs of individual patients. Moreover, progress in chemical biology and targeted protein degradation techniques, including Molecular Glues and PROTACs (proteolysis-targeting chimeras), is creating opportunities to address diseases once thought to be untreatable. The future depends on adopting this multidisciplinary method.

What would you expect to be the next breakthrough in medicinal chemistry?

I anticipate that the upcoming significant advancement will be the development of drugs targeting RNA. While small molecules traditionally target proteins, directly targeting RNA could potentially address genetic disorders and other diseases at their fundamental origin. Progress in RNA-based treatments, such as siRNA and mRNA vaccines, has already revealed remarkable potential, as illustrated by the COVID-19 vaccines.

• Company visits

Every year, one-day visits to companies around Copenhagen are being organized. The aim of these visits is to show students the capabilities of the medicinal chemistry industry in the greater Copenhagen area, as well as strengthen the connections between academia and industry. Previous examples include company visits to Amgen, Novo Nordisk and Lundbeck

• Lunch talks

We organize several lunch talks each year, regarding various themes such as: tips on writing a good thesis (MSc and PhD), women in science and surprising career paths for medicinal chemists. The goal of these talks is to share knowledge between medicinal chemists, promote networking and raise awareness.

• Young Medicinal Chemists symposium

Each spring, we organize a half-day event in which early-stage medicinal chemists from Denmark and abroad present their scientific work. Through these symposia, great science is shared and valuable connections between young medicinal chemists are made. Last year, we had the pleasure to host two great lectures from Dr William Farnaby (Centre for Targeted Protein Degradation) and associate professor Céline Galvagnion-Büll (University of Copenhagen).

Currently, we are aiming to increase our activities and expand our board team with members from the Danish medicinal chemistry ecosystem, in order to  expand our presence beyond the University of Copenhagen and Denmark. To learn more about our group, you can visit our website.

γ-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) is an endogenous molecule found in the mammalian brain, known to interact with both low- and high-affinity receptor targets. Clinically, GHB is prescribed for the treatment of narcolepsy-related symptoms and alcohol dependence, although it is also misused recreationally under the name "Fantasy." The primary pharmacological effects of exogenously administered GHB are mediated through GABA subtype B (GABA_B) receptors, which bind GHB with low affinity. While high-affinity binding sites for GHB have been recognized for over three decades, their molecular identity remained elusive until recent discoveries revealed that GHB binds to a previously uncharacterized allosteric pocket within the hub domain of CaMKIIa (Calcium/Calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II alpha). This discovery opens exciting avenues for structure-based drug design, offering the potential to achieve unprecedented selectivity for a protein that plays a central role in numerous physiological processes, including synaptic plasticity, learning and memory, cardiovascular regulation, and cancer progression. Targeting this novel site could enable the development of therapeutics with refined specificity and reduced off-target effects.

In the mentioned study, researchers employed structure-based virtual screening to identify 2-arylthiazole-4-carboxylic acids as a novel class of nanomolar affinity ligands targeting the hub domain of CaMKIIa. These compounds, particularly PTCA, bind to the same allosteric pocket previously discovered for GHB, stabilizing the CaMKIIa protein and offering a new pharmacological handle on this critical kinase. This work builds directly on the discovery of GHB’s binding site, demonstrating that the hub domain is a druggable and selective target. Given CaMKII’s central role in learning and memory, cardiovascular function, and cancer, these findings significantly advance the potential for rational drug design aimed at modulating CaMKII activity with high specificity and therapeutic relevance.

KRAS is the most frequently mutated oncogene, driving over 20% of human cancers, including pancreatic, colorectal, lung, endometrial, and gastric tumors. Building on insights from the development of sotorasib (covalent KRAS G12C inhibitor), we leveraged structure- and property-based design to identify a new class of reversible, macrocyclic pan-KRAS inhibitors, culminating in the discovery of AMG 410. AMG 410 is orally bioavailable, highly selective over HRAS and NRAS, and has high affinity for both GTP(on)- and GDP(off)-bound states of KRAS.  Non-clinical studies of AMG 410 demonstrate robust antitumor activity.   AMG 410 is currently under clinical evaluation in patients harboring KRAS missense mutations or genetic amplification who have progressed on standard-of-care therapy.

Meetings in 2025

ELRIG Drug Discovery 2025
Tuesday 21 – Wednesday 22 October 2025, Liverpool, UK
RSC-BMCS/RSC Medicinal Chemistry/ELRIG

Registration and abstract submission is open!

Website: https://elrig.org/portfolio/drug-discovery-2025/
Synopsis: RSC-BMCS is once again collaborating with ELRIG to present a chemistry-focused track on day 2 of ELRIG Drug Discovery 2025, Europe’s leading drug discovery and life sciences conference which will also have scientific tracks covering topics including robotics, cell and disease models, ‘omics, AI, oncology and neurodegenerative disease. Our contribution to ELRIG’s ‘Festival of Life Science’ is put together by the RSC-BMCS and RSC Medicinal Chemistry, the UK’s leading drug discovery journal. As in previous years, our track will feature the drug discovery process from early stage emerging technologies to clinical candidate selection. We have an exciting lineup of UK and international experts and among the hot topics covered are high throughput lead discovery, protein degradation as a drug modality, and lead optimisation of natural products. Please keep checking the website for updates.

BMCS New approaches to the treatment of Parkinson’s
Wednesday 12 November 2025, Burlington House, London, UK
BMCS/Parkinsons UK

Registration and abstract submission is open! Check the website for updated speaker details!

Website: https://www.rscbmcs.org/events/parkinsons25/
Synopsis: Join the Royal Society of Chemistry Biological Medicinal Chemistry Sector and Parkinson’s UK to hear about new approaches to the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease.
In the dynamic field of drug discovery, the search for new treatments for Parkinson’s disease has never been more critical. It is estimated 10 million people worldwide are living with Parkinson’s – a chronic, progressive neurodegenerative condition resulting from the loss of the dopamine-containing cells of the substantia nigra. Motor and non-motor symptoms of the condition are wide ranging and current treatments only help to manage a small subset of the symptoms and do not modify the disease progression. But there is a wealth of research to find new and better therapeutics for Parkinson’s.
This meeting, specifically designed for professionals dedicated to developing new therapeutics for Parkinson’s disease, will highlight current research offering symptomatic relief and disease modifying approaches.

BMCS Hot Topics: Antibody–Drug Conjugates 
Thursday 20 November 2025 (afternoon), Virtual
BMCS

Registration is open!

Website: https://www.rscbmcs.org/events/hottopicsadcs2025/
Synopsis: The BMCS Hot Topics online meetings are intended to highlight breaking areas of research in fields of science relevant to drug discovery. They will run as stand-alone half-day virtual events, 2-3 times per year. The programmes will be targeted towards researchers working in or who would like to enhance their understanding of these nascent or developing fields.

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), alongside other targeted modalities, effectively enrich target tissues with potent payloads unsuitable for systemic administration. With several recent clinical successes, the number of new ADCs approaching the clinic is rapidly increasing. This meeting aims to highlight the technological advancements and innovations driving these ADCs, while addressing the challenges and opportunities within the field. The Hot Topics session will feature speakers from industry and academia who are at the forefront of ADC design.

Meetings in 2026

BMCS Postgraduate Symposium XIX

Thursday 08 January 2026, University of Manchester, UK
BMCS

Registration and abstract submission is now open!

Website: https://www.rscbmcs.org/events/psxix/
Synopsis: This face-to-face meeting will comprise of oral and poster presentations from PhD students and post-doctoral workers researching in biological or medicinal chemistry. In addition, the agenda will feature invited keynote speakers from industry and academia.

BMCS 3rd Conformational Design in Drug Discovery
Monday 02 March 2026, Stevenage, UK
BMCS

A date for your diary!

Website: BMCS 3rd Conformational Design in Drug Discovery 2026 - RSC BMCS
Synopsis: Conformational Design plays a key role in the medicinal chemistry of small molecule drug candidates. The emergence of generative AI models to assist molecular design and free-energy-perturbation techniques critically depend on accurate prediction of 3D ligand conformations. Here we bring together cutting-edge computational methods with experimental free ligand NMR solution conformations and protein-ligand X-ray and CryoEM structures to craft the medicines of tomorrow. We will discuss ligand rigidification and physicochemical optimisation strategies for protein-protein interaction inhibitors, PROTACs, molecular glues, antibody-drug-conjugate payloads and other new modalities. This RSC-BMCS event aims at building a community that shares conformational design strategies, technologies, and successful case studies. It will complement other rational drug design events and promote more successful research into future medicines.

The BMCS Mastering MedChem X: 10th RSC-BMCS Symposium on Mastering Medicinal Chemistry
Friday 13 March 2026, Burlington House, London, UK
BMCS

A date for your diary!

Website: https://www.rscbmcs.org/events/mastermedchem26/
Synopsis: Mastering Medicinal Chemistry X is the latest in an ongoing series of conferences intended to provide expert advice and guidance to new practitioners in the field of drug discovery. It has been said that “there are two types of drug discovery programmes: those that hit serious problems and those that are going to hit serious problems.” Anticipating and preparing for such problems thus accelerates the delivery of new medicines: this event will feature presentations from experienced ‘drug-hunters’ in both industry and academia, who will talk about the challenges faced in modern drug discovery, and will share best practice common to all successful medicinal chemists.

RSC-BMCS/SCI 5th Symposium on Anti-Infectives Drug Discovery
Monday 01 – Tuesday 02 June 2026, Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
SCI/BMCS

A date for your diary!

Website: https://www.rscbmcs.org/events/mastermedchem26/
Synopsis: With the ever-growing prevalence of drug-resistant pathogens, it has never been more important that we refresh the drug pipeline with new antimicrobials that act on new targets or exhibit novel modes of action. The rise of antimicrobial resistance and recent COVID pandemic serve to highlight the importance of developing effective treatments for infection, and is helping to drive a resurgence in anti-infectives drug discovery and the development of innovative technologies and approaches for combating infection through more effective detection and diagnosis methods.

7th RSC-BMCS/DMDG New Perspectives in DMPK
Wednesday 10 June 2026, Burlington House, London, UK
BMCS/DMDG

A date for your diary!

Website: https://www.rscbmcs.org/events/dmpk26/
Synopsis: Novel small-molecule-based therapeutic approaches represent a key component of the discovery landscape. The emergence of molecular glues, PROTACs, bicyclic peptides, and other novel chemistries often bring with them new challenges for drug discovery scientists; synthetic difficulty, beyond rule-of-five physicochemical properties, and complexity in the link between exposure and response, may complicate ADME characterisation and accurate human dose prediction, particularly for drugs aimed at oral administration. This meeting will provide a forum for the exchange of ideas between principal members of the DMPK research community on how we can rise to these challenges. Keynote talks from thought leaders will provide wider perspectives on how DMPK can contribute to the delivery of medicines to patients more quickly and efficiently.  There will be a balanced mix of oral and poster presentations, and networking opportunities throughout.

10th Fragment-based Drug Discovery Meeting
Monday 14 – Wednesday 16 September 2026, Churchill College, Cambridge, UK
BMCS

Save the date

Website: https://www.rscbmcs.org/events/fragmentsx/
Synopsis: The aim of the 10th RSC-BMCS Fragment-based Drug Discovery meeting will be to continue the focus on case studies in Fragment-based Drug Discovery that have delivered compounds to late stage medicinal chemistry, preclinical or clinical programmes. The Fragment series was started in 2007 and continues with this theme in having over three-quarters of the presentations focused on case studies. This will be complemented by technology progress in high concentration, NMR, SPR and X-ray screening.

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