معرفی
Dr Gemma Nixon is a Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Liverpool with a joint appointment in the Institute of Translational Medicine. She leads a Medicinal Chemistry Research group focused on infectious disease drug discovery and chemical biology approaches, maintaining active collaborations with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and clinical partners.
Her educational background includes a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Liverpool (2006), followed by postdoctoral research at the same institution on endoperoxide antimalarials. She gained industry experience at Peakdale Molecular before returning to LSTM for malaria and tuberculosis drug development projects funded by Wellcome Trust, MRC, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Dr Nixon's research spans rational design of therapeutics targeting tuberculosis, malaria, filariasis, cryptococcal meningitis, and cancer. Her group employs chemical synthesis, computational modelling, and biological evaluation to develop novel agents including β-tubulin-binding benzimidazoles for fungal infections and PROTAC degraders for metastatic breast cancer and motor neurone disease. Current work emphasizes target validation through activity-based protein profiling and optimization of drug candidates for improved pharmacokinetics.
Recent publications demonstrate consistent focus on antimalarial and antitubercular agents, with growing emphasis on cancer therapeutics. Her work bridges chemical innovation with biological validation, particularly in mechanism-of-action studies for novel scaffolds and combination therapies against drug-resistant pathogens.
Her scientific recognition includes:
- Chemistry Biology Interface Horizon Prize (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2024)
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2018)
- Associate Member of the Higher Education Academy (2013)
She has secured substantial research funding including an MRC New Investigator Grant (2016-2019) for anti-fungal benzimidazoles, Wolfson Foundation support for nanoAFM-IR imaging (2024-2027), and Motor Neurone Disease Association funding for SOD1 degraders (2023-2027). Her supervised projects cover chemical proteomic probes, thiazolide antivirals, tetraoxane antimalarials, and fluorescent antimicrobial susceptibility tools.
Dr Nixon leads the Medicinal Chemistry Research group within the Department of Chemistry, actively participating in MedChemNet leadership and university committees including REF selection and student admissions. Her collaborative network spans pharmacology, tropical medicine, and clinical research teams at Liverpool.
