معرفی
Dr Richard Foster is an Associate Professor and Group Leader of Medicinal Chemistry in the School of Chemistry at the University of Leeds, within the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences. His research focuses on small molecule drug discovery, integrating synthetic organic chemistry, computational methods, and biological evaluation to develop novel therapeutics.
His primary research interests include medicinal chemistry, drug design, synthetic organic chemistry, and chemical biology. His group works on the identification and optimization of small molecule modulators targeting various disease pathways, employing techniques such as virtual drug design, high-throughput screening, fragment-based design, and chemical proteomics to support their work.
Dr Foster's research program includes major projects on inhibitors of the coagulation factor FXIIa for thrombosis treatment with reduced bleeding risk, inhibitors of the AuroraA/MYC interaction for cancer therapy, antagonists of calcium-dependent ion channels, and agonists of the apelin receptor for cardiovascular diseases such as pulmonary arterial hypertension. These projects are supported by Innovate UK and venture capital funding and involve collaborations with other research groups at Leeds and across the UK, including with Richard Bayliss.
He leads a multidisciplinary research group conducting work in chemical synthesis, computer-aided drug design, assay development, and in vitro/in vivo screening, often in partnership with industry and academic collaborators. His lab develops pharmacological tool compounds and potential drug leads aimed at both understanding biological mechanisms and advancing therapeutic discovery.
