Neil R. Thomas

Biography

Professor Thomas began his academic career with a 1st Class B.Sc. (Hons) in Chemistry from the University of Southampton in 1987. Remaining there, under the supervision of Professor D. Gani, he obtained his Ph.D. in 1990 working on the elucidation of the mechanism of the pyridoxal phosphate (vitamin B6) dependent enzyme serine hydroxymethyltransferase and 3-methylaspartase. He then worked for the following two years as a NATO/SERC Fellow with Prof. S. J. Benkovic at the Pennsylvania State University, USA. on both the generation and characterisation of catalytic antibodies and the reaction catalysed by dihydrofolate reductase. He returned to the UK in 1992 as a Royal Society University Research Fellow and lecturer at the University of Bath. In 1995, he moved to the School of Chemistry at the University of Nottingham, initially as a Royal Society University Research Fellow and lecturer and then in 2003 as a Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor before becoming Professor of Medicinal & Biological Chemistry in January 2008. His current research interests are in the identification of inhibitors of enzymes essential to Mycobacterium cell wall biosynthesis; synthesis of mechanistic probes based on Coenzyme A, S-adenosylmethione, ATP and biotin; use of enzymes in unusual reaction media (fluorous biphasic systems; supercritical fluids); development of enzyme-based antimicrobial therapies; development of enzyme-activated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) agents; development of in vivo probes based on quantum dots and protein capsids. He is the Director and Admissions tutor for the Medicinal & Biological Chemistry degree courses. Professor Thomas began his academic career with a 1st Class B.Sc. (Hons) in Chemistry from the University of Southampton in 1987. Remaining there, under the supervision of Professor D. Gani, he obtained his Ph.D. in 1990 working on the elucidation of the mechanism of the pyridoxal phosphate (vitamin B6) dependent enzyme serine hydroxymethyltransferase and 3-methylaspartase. He then worked for the following two years as a NATO/SERC Fellow with Prof. S. J. Benkovic at the Pennsylvania State University, USA. on both the generation and characterisation of catalytic antibodies and the reaction catalysed by dihydrofolate reductase. He returned to the UK in 1992 as a Royal Society University Research Fellow and lecturer at the University of Bath. In 1995, he moved to the School of Chemistry at the University of Nottingham, initially as a Royal Society University Research Fellow and lecturer and then in 2003 as a Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor before becoming Professor of Medicinal & Biological Chemistry in January 2008. His current research interests are in the identification of inhibitors of enzymes essential to Mycobacterium cell wall biosynthesis; synthesis of mechanistic probes based on Coenzyme A, S-adenosylmethione, ATP and biotin; use of enzymes in unusual reaction media (fluorous biphasic systems; supercritical fluids); development of enzyme-based antimicrobial therapies; development of enzyme-activated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) agents; development of in vivo probes based on quantum dots and protein capsids. He is the Director and Admissions tutor for the Medicinal & Biological Chemistry degree courses.

Research Interest

Bioorganic Chemistry; Chemical Biology; Biological Chemistry; Enzyme Mechanism; Enzyme Inhibitor; Biomimetic Catalysts; Catalytic Antibodies; Phage Display; Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase; Dioxetane chemiluminescence; galactopyranose mutase; glycosidase;