Lorenzo Ballerini (DC1)

Lorenzo Ballerini (AiRPaDD Doctoral Candidate 1) was born in Carrara, a small town in Italy. He received his BSc and MSc degrees at the University of Pisa (Pisa, Italy) working on Pd-catalyzed direct arylation and cross-coupling reactions. In 2023 he moved to Northwestern University (Chicago, US) as a visiting scholar to work on reaction discovery through electrochemical methods.

After that, he joined AiRPaDD as a PhD student. Within the AiRPaDD project, Lorenzo aims to explore innovative strategies for the synthesis of heterocycles as building blocks for obtaining drug-relevant structures. He will split his time between our academic partner USFD (UK) and industrial partner Sanofi (Germany).

In his free time, Lorenzo enjoys travelling and hiking, and he is also interested in history and geography.

Kavya Gopakumar (DC2)

Kavya Gopakumar (AiRPaDD Doctoral Candidate 2) did her BSc studies in India and holds a MSC in Drug Discovery Science from the University of Sheffield (USFD, UK). Specialised in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery, her research in academia primarily revolved around the exploration of drug-like piperidine moieties, showcasing her in-depth understanding and experience in the field of organic synthesis.

Her unyielding passion for research is evident in her numerous contributions to reputable journals. With a strong foundation in the chemical and biological aspects of drug discovery, she is poised to develop novel methods for synthesizing newly functionalised olefins for her PhD within the AiRPaDD project. She will split her time between our academic partner USFD (UK) and industrial partner Astrazeneca (Sweden).

Lucie Eisen (DC3)

Lucie Eisen (AiRPaDD Doctoral Candidate 3) obtained a double master from the University of Strasbourg (France) and the University of the Basque Country (Spain) in organic  chemistry in 2022. Motivated by a strong interest in drug discovery,  she then completed a 1-year internship in the medicinal chemistry  department of Roche in Basel (Switzerland).

Within the AirPADD project she is focusing on the development of new  radical-based methods for the late-stage functionalization of pyrazole  scaffolds. This could provide a more efficient way to access certain  molecules of pharmaceutical interest in the future.

Lucie will split her time between our academic partner UPV/EHU (Spain) and industrial partner Sanofi (Germany).

Constantinos Kyriacou (DC4)

Constantinos Kyriacou (AiRPaDD Doctoral Candidate 4) obtained his BSc and MSc degrees from the University of Strathclyde in Scotland, specializing in the  development of a novel method for sustainable benzylic oxidation.

During his time at the University of Strathclyde, he interned at Bayer AG in Germany, contributing to projects focused on the total synthesis of metabolites for safety evaluation studies.

Currently pursuing his PhD as a member of the AiRPaDD project, Constantinos’s research revolves around pioneering radical reactions facilitated by systematic radical-philicity studies. This work holds promise for advancing organic synthesis methodologies with significant implications for diverse chemical applications.

Constaninos will split his time between our academic partner UPV/EHU (Spain) and industrial partner Astrazeneca (Sweden).

University of the Basque Country

The University of the Basque Country is a vibrant 40-year-old institution with 45,000 students, 5,000 world-class academic staff and state-of-the-art facilities. The Sustainable Catalysis: Methods and Computation group at the Department of Organic Chemistry I that Prof. Enrique Gómez Bengoa leads combines Experimental and Computational Chemistry by studying the mechanisms of organometallic and organocatalytic reactions. The group has over 20 years experience in supervising and training undergraduate and graduate students and has successfully set up a number of fruitful collaborations in combined experimental/theoretical chemistry accross Europe.

University of Sheffield

The University of Sheffield is one of the UK’s leading research-led Universities and it is a member of the Russell Group (an association of 24 of the UK’s leading Universities). Prof Joe Harrity is a member of the Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology Research Cluster and his research programme in methodology development has been recognised by the 2004 Pfizer Discover Academic Award, 2006 AstraZeneca Research Award and the 2018 RSC Bader Award. His group has graduated around 50 PhD researchers and he has successfully participated in several networks across Europe.

Sanofi

Sanofi is a world-leading Pharma company with 100,000 employees and several research sites around the globe with state-of-the-art facilities (Research & Development – Sanofi). Medicinal chemistry research is mainly located in Frankfurt, Paris and the Boston area. Dr. María Méndez Pérez leads Medicinal Chemistry in the Small Molecular Design department, that focuses on efficient advancement of drug discovery projects by integrating novel technologies. The group has over 20 years of experience on medicinal chemistry and drug discovery and has successfully supervised a number of international under- and postgraduate students, in close collaboration with academic partners.

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a Anglo-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company with 83500 employees (2023) that spans the entire value chain from discovery, early- and late-stage development to manufacturing and distribution, including global commercialisation of primary care, specialty care-led and specialty care medicines that transform lives. The AZ R&D site at Gothenburg, Sweden is one of the three largest R&D sites at AZ hosting ca 3000 employees. The site has extensive, world-class experimental facilities for synthetic, medicinal and computational chemistry. Additionally, the chemistry departments house state-of-the-art library production as well as high throughput experimentation and are supported by comprehensive analytical facilities and expertise. Dr Werngard Czechtizky is Head of Medicinal Chemistry for Respiratory and Immunology. Her department has successfully hosted >30 MSc/PhD students and postdocs.

AF ChemPharm

Established 25 years ago, AF ChemPharm is a Contract Research Organisation (CRO) offering mainly early stage drug discovery service including computer aided drug design, hit identification, lead optimisation, drug candidate synthesis to GMP certification and custom and contract synthesis of small molecules. AF ChemPharm operates via its own state-of-art laboratory with a highly experienced and talented team of PhD Medicinal Chemists.