Professor Klaus Pors

Research

Research in the Pors group is focussed on research at the interface between chemistry and biology. Traditional approaches to drug discovery such as target oriented synthesis and medicinal chemistry are used to develop focussed libraries of small molecules that are entirely new chemical entities or re-engineered versions of natural products. In addition, his group uses diversity-oriented synthesis to generate collections of small molecules of structural diverse architecture, which can be used to probe new chemical space or known biological pathways that are not well understood. In the context of cancer, novel therapeutics are designed to (i) exploit enzymatic and/or physiological conditions found unique to the tumour microenvironment or (ii) circumvent or exploit resistance mechanisms present in malignant tissue. Specific projects include:1) Development of tumour-selective prodrugs using bio-oxidative or bioreductive mode of activation.2) Development of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) inhibitors and prodrug derivatives.3) Development of aldo-keto reductase 1C3 (AKR1C3) inhibitors and prodrug derivatives.4) Development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs)In addition, our group is also interested in developing molecular fluorescent probes that can be used to stain fixed or live cells with wide applications in routine and research laboratories utilising flow cytometry and fluorescence imaging methods.Current research team include: Dr Sneha Swaroop (research fellow), postgraduate students Elisabet Battle, Zoë Jukes, Enric Arasanz Picher, Abdullahi Magaji Dauda, Enrica Denasio and Sam MacKenzie (intern student from York). Our research us supported by Breast Cancer Now, Secondary1st, The Schlumberger Foundation, Kidscan, ICT Doctoral Training Centre and University of Bradford (International Development Fund).