Group Members

Postdocs: 

Dr Carole Bataille

I completed my undergraduate studies in Organic Chemistry at the University of Rouen and obtained my PhD at the University of Southampton under Dr R.C.D. Brown, focusing on permanganate oxidative cyclisation. I then moved to the University of Oxford, where I held postdoctoral positions with Professor T.J. Donohoe on tethered aminohydroxylation methodology and with Dr J.M. Brown FRS on the resolution of stereolabile biaryl ligands using novel chiral dienes.

Since 2008, I have been part of Professor Angela Russell’s group, working across a wide range of medicinal chemistry projects — from designing PIM kinase inhibitors for cancer and antiviral agents for Hepatitis C, to exploring compounds that influence stem cell proliferation and lipid immunometabolic receptors. My research has also included a collaboration with Professor T.H. Rabbitts, developing novel chiral small molecules to disrupt cancer-related protein–protein interactions using fragment-based and computational design approaches.

I currently serve as a senior postdoctoral researcher and project coordinator on an MRC-funded programme developing next-generation aryl hydrocarbon receptor antagonists as utrophin modulators for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

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 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

Pol is a Novo Nordisk Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Stipendiary Lecturer in Chemistry at Jesus College. 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 2023, Pol joined the Russell Lab as a Postdoctoral Research Associate, and in 2024, he was awarded a prestigious Novo Nordisk Fellowship. His research is focused on the development of a molecular toolkit for the selective labelling of GLUT4 to study of its trafficking and map its interactome in the context of metabolic diseases. Outside the lab, Pol enjoys pottery, playing squash, and musicals.

Dr Andrew S. Hackett

Andrew S. Hackett obtained a Master's degree in chemistry from the University of Liverpool, during his third year he undertook a placement at GSK, developing small molecule inhibitors of ERAP1. He completed his final year research project under the supervision of Dr. Christophe Aissa, developing a novel iridium catalysed cycloproponation methodology utilising sulfoxomium ylides as carbene precursors. He completed his PhD under the supervion of Prof. Lydia Tabernero and Prof. Sam Butterworth at the University of Manchester, developing small molecule inhibitors and degraders of virulent bacterial phosphatases. Andy is currently investigating novel small molecule anti-diabetic therapeutics in collaboration with Novo Nordisk. 

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 (Fourth 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 (Fourth 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 (Fourth 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 (Third 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 (Third 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.

Elizabeth Bateman (Second year)

Elizabeth grew up in Yorkshire and read MChem (Hons) as an undergraduate at the University of Oxford. During this time, she worked with Professor Chris Schofield FRS in the Oxford Chemistry Research Laboratory on her final year project, developing high-throughput assays and investigating inhibitors for the DNA sanitiser DNPH1 for the treatment of drug-resistant cancers. Her interest in chemical biology and medicinal chemistry has culminated in undertaking her DPhil with the Russell group as part of the Interdisciplinary Bioscience DTP. Her DPhil explores the development of chemical biology tools to enable rational ligand design for intrinsically disordered proteins. Outside of the lab, she loves hiking, swimming, playing instruments and her silly cat Jasper.

Ciaran Duff (Second year)

Ciaran holds a Master’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Warwick, where he worked on characterising Mur ligase inhibitors as potential antibacterial therapeutics. He completed a year in industry at GSK in the Chemical Biology department, focusing on high-throughput, in-cell, label-free target engagement assays. He then joined Samsara Therapeutics in Oxford, contributing to the discovery of small molecule modulators of autophagy as part of the screening team. Ciaran is now a PhD student on the Interdisciplinary Bioscience DTP, developing chemical probes for LMO2 using a combination of chemical and biological techniques to better understand aberrant cell proliferation in T-cells.

Malcolm Lim (First year)

Hailing from Singapore, Malcolm received his MSci degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, specializing in Chemistry. He completed his Masters' project under Professor Gonçalo Bernardes, focusing on the development of prodrug scaffolds for covalent inhibitors. Subsequently, his interest in medicinal chemistry had driven him to join the Russell group in 2025 as a DPhil student. His research focuses on exploring the induction of biased agonism in human GPCRs beyond GPR84, specifically with free fatty acid receptors as targets. Outside the lab, Malcolm enjoys watching movies, staying fit, and voluntarily partaking in (occasionally questionable) culinary experimentation in the kitchen.

Zelalemawee Asheber (First year)

Zelalemawee graduated with an MSci (Hons) in Medicinal and Biological Chemistry with an Assessed Year in Industry from the University of Nottingham. During his research placement at Pharmaron UK, he studied the relationship between the compliance of life-saving medicines and their bitter taste with a focus on the physiochemical and ADME properties of heteroaromatic bicyclic scaffolds for the protein of interest. This research was explored in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. For his MSci project, he worked under Assistant Professor Pete Harvey to access and evaluate novel tryptamine-containing imaging probes for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and luminescence imaging of amyloid-beta fibrils in Alzheimer’s disease brains. Zelalemawee is now a Wellcome Trust Chemistry in Cells DPhil student in the Russell and Lanyon-Hogg groups, working on the development of immune potentiator antibiotics that are conditionally lethal during oxidative stress. Outside of academia, he enjoys reading non-fiction, grassroots volunteering and chess, and sports such as powerlifting, basketball, and football.

Victoria Mudyanembwa (First year)

Victoria is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemistry with research interests in organic synthesis and natural product chemistry. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Zimbabwe, where she investigated the development of natural product–based ointments to treat eczema. Her current research focuses on creating and studying bioactive natural compounds that could lead to new therapeutic agents. Outside the lab, she enjoys engaging in research that bridges traditional medicine and modern chemistry.

Qingqing Ye (MSc Student)

Qingqing holds an MSci in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry from Imperial College London, where she completed her final-year project under Prof. Alan Spivey, developing a novel synthesis route for aryl diazirines. She is currently a research master’s student in the Russell Group, focusing on antibody–drug conjugates targeting LMO2. Outside the lab, she enjoys cooking, watching films, and travelling.

Part II and summer students:

Haozhe Huang (Part II) 

Abigail Paxton (Part II)

Mohammed Ali (Part II)

Dylan Hughes (Part II)