Group Members
Postdocs:
Dr Carole Bataille
I did my undergraduate in Organic Chemistry at the University of Rouen and obtained my PhD on permanganate oxidative cyclisation under the supervision of Dr R.C.D. Brown at the University of Southampton. I then undertook two consecutive post-doctoral positions with Professor T.J. Donohoe on tethered aminohydroxylation methodology and with Dr J.M. Brown on resolution of stereolabile biaryl ligands using novel chiral dienes at the Chemistry Research Laboratory, Oxford.
I previously worked as a senior post-doctoral researcher in the AJR group and with Professor S.G. Davies, at Oxford. I had the opportunity to work on a range of medicinal chemistry projects from synthesizing novel PIM kinase inhibitors used in the treatment of cancer, to anti-viral agents against Hepatitis C virus as well as novel compounds used in the proliferation of stem cells and their selective differentiation.
I am currently working on a collaborative project with Professor TH Rabbitts funded by Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research on the synthesis of novel chiral small molecules, used in protein-protein interaction to prevent, proliferation of cancer cells via a fragment-based approach and in silico methods using inhibition antibody fragments as structured templates.
Dr Jacob D. Hiles
Jacob D. Hiles commenced his scientific journey at Kingston University, where he earned both his BSc and MSc degrees conducting research under the guidance of Dr Sianne Schwikkard. His focus during this time was on developing synthetic analogues of natural products with a specific emphasis on exploring their potential as anti-angiogenic agents for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Jacob undertook a cross-disciplinary PhD under the supervision of Dr Daniel Whelligan at the University of Surrey investigating the base excision repair enzyme – alkyl adenine glycosylase (AAG). This project involved the both synthesis of azasugar nucleoside mimic inhibitors and the development of a high-throughput bioassay for the determination of AAG activity. Currently, as a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Angela Russell’s group, Jacob is actively engaged in a collaborative project with Prof. Terry Rabbitts from the Institute of Cancer Research. Their research centres on developing degraders of LMO2, an intrinsically disordered protein that has been found to be aberrantly activated in both childhood and adult T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) due to various mutations
Dr Marc-Antoine Panosetti
Marc-Antoine began his journey in chemistry with a Master’s degree in Molecular and Fine Chemistry from Université Côte d’Azur in Nice, France. For his Master thesis, he developed a strong foundation in organic synthesis by designing and preparing new RNA-targeting small molecules via Ugi multicomponent reaction. He then pursued a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry under the supervision of Dr. Maria Duca (Université Côte d’Azur, Nice, France), where he designed novel inhibitors of oncogenic microRNAs. Marc-Antoine had the chance to spend half of his PhD at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), under the supervision of Dr. Benedetto Grimaldi (IIT, Genova, Italy), where he gained experience in molecular biology and cell biology, thus bridging chemistry and biology for his project. After the completion of his PhD, Marc-Antoine joined Professor Angela Russell’s group at the University of Oxford as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. He is now focusing on developing utrophin modulators for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
Dr Massimiliano Runfola
Massimiliano holds a Master's degree in Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology from the University of Pisa (Italy), which he received in 2016. His multidisciplinary thesis focused on drug design, synthesis, and biological characterization of small molecules as therapeutic tools against ageing-related pathologies. After completing his degree, he spent six months at ESTeSC, Coimbra (Portugal), developing analytical methods for quantifying antidepressants in biological matrices. In 2017, Massimiliano began his PhD in Medicinal Chemistry at Pisa, where he worked on developing autophagy modulators for neurodegenerative diseases and metabolic disorders. During his PhD, he gained experience in ADME-Tox HT screening at Fraunhofer-IME in Hamburg (Germany) and spent eight months at Michael Wakelam's laboratories at Babraham Institute in Cambridge (UK), gaining expertise on in vitro and in vivo biological characterization of the autophagic pathway. After completing his PhD, Massimiliano spent one year as a postdoctoral researcher in Pisa, setting up a Caenorhabditis elegans facility for in vivo screening of autophagic modulators for rare infantile degenerative diseases. In 2022, he was awarded the prestigious Marie-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship to continue his research at the University of Oxford, where he is currently working on the development and mechanistic investigation of utrophin-upregulating drugs for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in Angela Russell's group. Outside of the lab, he enjoys noise rock, practising Taekwondo, playing the guitar, and cooking.
Dr Pinqi Wang
Pinqi completed an MRes course at Imperial College London in 2020 and began his DPhil in Organic Chemistry the same year. Pinqi’s research is centred around medicinal chemistry and chemical biology, with a specific focus on GPR84. I am investigating novel candidates that can activate our innate immune system, particularly macrophages, to combat bacteria or cancer.
Dr Pol Hernández Lladó
Originally from a small coastal village in Catalonia, Pol obtained a four-year degree in Chemistry from the University of Barcelona. He completed his final year research project under the supervision of Prof Alan Spivey at Imperial College London as an ERASMUS+ student. He then moved to GSK for a placement year before joining the University of Oxford as a member of the SBM CDT. He completed his DPhil under the supervision of Prof Jonathan Burton working on malonyl radical cyclisations and natural product synthesis. In the Russell group, Pol is investigating metabolic disorders in collaboration with Novo Nordisk. Outside the lab, Pol enjoys cooking and pottery.
Dr Ríona Devereux
Ríona completed her B.A. (Mod.) in Medicinal Chemistry in Trinity College Dublin in 2020. She completed her final year project entitled “Searching for new guanidine-based kinase inhibitors” in the Rozas’ laboratory. She is a recipient of the Cocker Prize in Chemistry, for demonstrating great practical ability in her final year project, and the Gold Medal in Medicinal Chemistry, for showing exceptional merit in her final examinations from the TCD School of Chemistry. Ríona's DPhil focussed on developing chemical probes to investigate the role of fatty acids in the heart, in collaboration with Assoc. Prof. Lisa Heather (DPAG, Oxford). She is now working on investigating the interactome of lipid metabolites and the outcomes of these interactions in the context of the heart.
DPhils students:
Hannah Unsworth (Fourth year)
Hannah completed her MChem in Medicinal and Biological Chemistry at The University of Edinburgh in 2021. During her final year she undertook an industrial placement at Hoffmann - La Roche in Basel, Switzerland where she joined the Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development (pRED) department working towards small molecule inhibition of neuroinflammatory targets. Hannah joined the group in Jan 2022 on the Wellcome Trust Chemistry in Cells programme. Hannah's DPhil focusses on developing novel PAL chemical probes to further our understanding of immunomodulation in the heart, in collaboration with Prof Paul Riley.
Adam McGrath (Third year)
Adam grew up in Leicestershire and completed a Master’s degree in Chemistry at Imperial College London. His Master’s project focused on natural product synthesis, utilising novel thermal cascade cyclisations. After graduating, Adam undertook a year internship at Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel, working on the synthesis of small molecule inhibitors and late-stage functionalisation of drug candidates. Adam joined the Russell Group in October 2022 on the DPhil in Organic Chemistry programme, in collaboration with Novo Nordisk, working on chemical probes investigating Type II diabetes. Outside of the lab, Adam enjoys rock climbing, hiking and spending time with friends.
Listiana Oktavia (Third year)
Listi holds an undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in Indonesia. She pursued her passion further and obtained a master's degree from the Department of Chemistry at Pukyong National University in South Korea, specializing in nanomaterials for drug delivery systems. Following her master's degree, Listi worked as a junior researcher at the National Research and Innovation Agency in Indonesia. During this time, she received training as a Natural Product Chemist, deepening her expertise in the field.
Listi's academic journey led her to join the esteemed Russell group as a DPhil student (MT 2022) at the University of Oxford. Supported by the LPDP scholarship (Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education), She is currently focusing on exploring exogenous ligands to activate GPR84, with a particular interest in natural product sources.
Josh Mealing-Stott (Third year)
Josh read MBiochem as an undergraduate at the University of Oxford. His interest for chemical biology and rational drug design developed through his Part II research project with Professor Chris Schofield FRS in the Oxford Chemistry Research Laboratory. Working alongside the Ineos Oxford Institute (IOI) for Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR), Josh explored potential biosynthetic routes to produce penicillin sulfonic acid analogues. During a placement at the University Hospital in Cardiff, he studied the importance of mouse models in drug treatments for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). A combination of both projects has led Josh to undertake his DPhil with the Russell group as part of the Wellcome Trust Chemistry in Cells program, researching drug repurposing methods to treat inflammatory diseases in collaboration with the Greaves group in the Dunn School of Pathology. Elsewhere, Josh enjoys various sports, playing guitar at church and a gripping crime-drama TV series!
Hannah Baillie (Second year)
Originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, I received my undergraduate degree in chemistry with medicinal chemistry (MChem) from the University of St Andrews. During the penultimate year of my undergraduate degree, I completed a medicinal chemistry industrial placement at MSD in London where my work focused on the development of novel treatments for diseases of aging. My final year project was completed in the Florence group at the University of St Andrews and focused on the design and development of novel trypanosomatid inhibitors. My DPhil project, funded by Cancer Research UK, focuses on the discovery and mechanistic elucidation of small molecule inducers of myeloblast differentiation for ALL. This work is conducted under the co-supervisor of Prof Thomas Milne. Outside of the lab, I enjoy watching football, going to the gym, running, and travelling.
Rowan Ives (Second year)
Rowan is a Chemistry in Cells DPhil student in the Russell group, working on the development of chemical probes targeting GPR84- a receptor primarily expressed in innate immune cells. Prior to his studies at the University of Oxford, he graduated with his Honours Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) from McMaster University in Hamilton, ON, Canada in 2023 with minors in chemistry, chemical biology, and biochemistry. At McMaster, he conducted his senior research project in antimicrobial medicinal chemistry, supervised by Dr. Jakob Magolan, working primarily on the development of novel enzyme inhibitors and Trojan horse antibiotics. Outside of academics, Rowan is an avid pianist and swimmer and enjoys working on the latest NYT crossword puzzle.
Part II and summer students
Gabriel Aspden Nuez (2024/2025)
Joshua Page (2024/2025)
Carrie Jennings (2024/2025)
Cherry Marsh (2024/2025)
Previous group members
Dr Caroline Cuoco (DPhil in the group from 2019 to 2024)
My name is Caroline Cuoco, and I am a recent PhD graduate from Boston, USA. I completed a dual PhD/DPhil at Scripps Research and Oxford in chemical biology and medicinal chemistry. When I am not attempting to elucidate biological mechanisms, I love spending time by the ocean and am always in search of good food!
