Elena Bichenkova
Reader
Pharmacy & Optometry
University of Manchester
United Kingdom
Biography
Dr Elena Bichenkova is a Reader in Medicinal Chemistry. Having graduated in Chemistry (BSc - 1983) with a PhD in NMR structural studies of nucleic acids (1993, Novosibirsk, Russia), she continued her research in conformational analysis of biomolecules in the USA at Purdue University (1992, 1994) and then at the University of Texas (1996) collaborating with the first-rank NMR laboratory of Prof. David G. Gorenstein. After being awarded a prestigious Royal Society/NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship in 1996, she joined the University of Manchester, School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences as a Research Fellow. In January 2004 Elena was appointed by the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences as a Lecturer in Medicinal Chemistry followed by promotion to Senior Lecturer (2009) and then to Reader (2013).
Research Interest
Elena’s research is multidisciplinary and primarily concerns nucleic acids chemistry, biochemistry and the study of structural aspects of nucleic acids by high-resolution NMR spectroscopy. These are synergised with high-level computational approaches and other biophysical methods, including steady state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy.
Publications
-
‘Dual’ peptidyl-oligonucleotide conjugates: role of conformational flexibility in catalytic cleavage of RNA
-
miRNases: Novel peptide-oligonucleotide bioconjugates that silence miR-21 in lymphosarcoma cells
-
NMR detects molecular interactions of graphene with aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons in water (replaces NMR-silent graphene seen as a magnetic ghost through its molecular interactions in water)
