Meet the team

An interdisciplinary team with a collective 168 years experience – who are as diverse in their hobbies as they are in their expertise!

Colin is a Medicinal Chemistry Team Leader focussing on the development of small molecules to aid current and future pandemics. Outside of work he loves to enjoy the outdoors, walking, running or cycling. As we go to press, Colin is moving onto a role in the TB portfolio.

De is particularly interested in applications of mass spectrometry in drug discovery. His free time is spent with family, playing badminton and watching sports.

Duncan, the COVID Portfolio leader, is a medicinal chemist who recently joined the DDU, with interests in all aspects of drug discovery. He enjoys the beach, playing the piano, and is Dad to a cheeky toddler.

Irene is a medicinal chemist interested in designing and synthesizing small molecules for pharmaceutical purposes. Beyond drug discovery, she enjoys long walks by the seaside and reading crime novels.

John is an experienced assay scientist, who has worked on many projects within the DDU. He is running target-based assays for this project. He is also a PhD researcher and photographer exploring themes of identity, representation, and queer visual culture at the Belfast School of Art.

Sandra is a biologist, performing biochemical assays, assay crash investigations, and helps build collaborations. She likes being organised, sunny days in winter, a good crime thriller and making four-item lists.

Lesley-Anne is a biochemist with 16 years lab experience. When she is not moving tiny amounts of liquid and being excited by pretty graphs, she spends her time playing the piano, video games, and being bad at Japanese.

Sean is a medicinal chemist with an interest in small molecule inhibitors, chemical probes and novel therapeutic modalities. He is a big fan of the outdoors and can usually be found bagging Munros at the weekend.

Shamshad is a committed bench biochemist with many years of assay development experience. Always happy to take on new aspects of project work, Shamshad is a good team player and networker. Away from work, Shamshad loves nature walks, family time and reading.

Suzanne is the DMPK representative for the team - this is more fun than it sounds as she gets to crush chemists’ souls by telling them their molecules are not good enough. When she’s not making chemists cry, she enjoys baking and cosying up with a good film and a glass of wine.

Xiao is leading the computational chemistry aspects of this project, with a special passion in computer aided drug design. She also enjoys reading books, binge-watching documentaries and playing video games.