Jon Elkins

Jon Elkins is a Principal Investigator at the University of Oxford, where he leads research at the Centre for Medicines Discovery (CMD) within the Nuffield Department of Medicine (NDM). His work at the intersection of chemistry, biology, and drug discovery focuses on structural biology and chemical probe development for understudied proteins in cellular signaling pathways.

• University of Oxford, Centre for Medicines Discovery
• Cellular Signaling and Biotechnology Research Group

Research interests center on molecular mechanisms of signaling proteins, particularly those regulated by post-translational modifications like phosphorylation and ADP-ribosylation. His lab leverages high-resolution structural data to design selective inhibitors for protein kinases, lipid kinases, and DNA repair enzymes, with applications in inflammation, cancer, and rare diseases. Key areas include:

• Protein kinase family-wide structural comparisons
• Sphingolipid biosynthesis and metabolic regulation
• ADP-ribosylation in host-virus interactions
• Crystallography-driven drug discovery
• Chemical tools for epigenetic targets
• Target validation in rare disease models

Recent publications highlight his group's work on LIMK inhibitors for Fragile X syndrome, off-target effects of BTK inhibitors, and novel scaffolds for DYRK and VRK kinases. These studies emphasize structure-activity relationships, selectivity profiling, and translational applications of chemical probes.