Group News 2012-2013

• The group is awarded funding from the EPSRC for upgrading a parallel peptide synthesiser and to buy another prep-HPLC.

• Alex and Chris attend the RSC Protein and Peptide Science Group Early Stage Researcher Meeting (London).

• Steven presents the group’s recent work on the development of new antileishmanials at the 5th Annual Symposium on Host Defence Peptides (Utrecht University, Netherlands).

• Dr Steven Cobb (Chemistry) was a member of an international team of researchers that recently received a 3 year grant from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council. The team led by Dr Ka-Leung Wong (Hong Kong Baptist University) comprised of researchers from Durham, Hong Kong Baptist University and City University of Hong Kong. The project will look to develop a new generation of multi-functional cyclin specific probes for in vitro cancer cell imaging and in the longer term in vivo imaging of tumours. This project will build on the work previously published by the team in Chem. Commun. last year (Two-photon induced responsive f-f emissive detection of Cyclin A with a europium-chelating peptide, Chem. Commun. 2011, 47(28): 8052-8054).

• Alex presents his research (in collaboration with Cambridge Research Biochemicals) at the recent 3rd RSC Bio-Organic Forum (University of Leicester)

• Frances presents her research at the 3rd INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ANTIMICROBIAL PEPTIDES (AMP2012) in Lille, France.

• The group’s recent Bill and Melinda Gates grant is highlighted on the EPSRC website:
  http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/pubs/mags/connect/2012/85/Pages/physicalsciencesworkshop.aspx

• Frances was selected to give a talk at the SET for Britain event run as part of the National Science and Engineering Week (http://www.setforbritain.org.uk/). Frances presented her PhD work on the development of new antileishmanials to Members of Parliament at Westminster.