Anna Barnard

Dr. Anna Barnard is an Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) in the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London, affiliated with the Institute of Chemical Biology and multiple research groups including the Barnard Group. Her research focuses on developing chemical tools to target protein-protein interactions (PPIs), with applications in infectious diseases, cancer, and antibiotic resistance. She holds a Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellowship (2019-2025) and leads a multidisciplinary team in drug discovery, peptide engineering, and chemical biology.

Education: PhD in Chemistry (University of York, 2012), postdoctoral training at the University of Leeds, Imperial College London, and a Junior Research Fellowship at Imperial (2015). She has authored over 30 publications in journals like Chemical Science, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and ACS Chemical Biology.

Research Interests: Design of helix mimetics, stapled peptides, and small molecule inhibitors; targeting bacterial toxins (e.g., Doc in Salmonella); malaria transmission-blocking agents; and applications of molecular rotors for live-cell imaging of PPI inhibition. Her work bridges organic chemistry, synthetic biology, and translational medicine.

Awards: Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellowship, Imperial College Network of Excellence in Malaria. Collaborations include Imperial’s Department of Medicine, the Institute of Infection, and industry partners like FreshCheck. She mentors over 20 current and past students, including PhD candidates and MRes researchers.

Labs/Teams: Barnard Group (Chemical Biology), Institute of Chemical Biology (CDT in Chemical Biology), and cross-disciplinary initiatives with the Kuimova, Fuchter, and Tate groups. Research is funded by Wellcome Trust, EPSRC, and Imperial College scholarships.