Dr Lynda J Brown BSc PhD
Associate Professor of Organic Chemistry | Chair of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Dr Lynda Brown is an Associate Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Southampton her research focuses on the design and synthesis of molecules for imaging and medicinal chemistry applications.
Progress in chemistry research is achieved by diverse teams working together in an inclusive culture
As an organic chemist, my research involves the discovery of novel chemical entities for imaging applications. Designing efficient synthetic routes to labelled molecules incorporating fluorophores or stable isotopes (13C, 2H, 15N, 17O) enables the development of new imaging methods for widespread applications in industry and academia.
Lynda graduated with BSc degree in Applied Chemistry from the University of Aston in 1996, spending a research placement year with GlaxoSmithKline. She then moved to the University of Southampton for doctoral research on novel fluorescent oligonucleotide probes under the supervision of Prof. Tom Brown. After obtaining her PhD in 2000, she worked as a research scientist for the Life Sciences company Eurogentec. In 2003 she returned to the University of Southampton as a postdoctoral research fellow developing new strategies for the production of imaging agents for use in positron emission tomography, and then working on the total synthesis of cis-sylvaticin. In 2009, she secured a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowship to pursue projects centred on enhancing the selectivity of organic reactions by synthesis within nanopores, developing new catalytic materials. In 2015 she moved to the post of a Senior Research Fellow and in 2020 she was promoted to her current position of Associate Professor. Lynda’s research focuses on the design and synthesis of molecules for imaging and medicinal chemistry applications often incorporating multiple isotopic labels.
Lynda has a passionate commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and chairs the ED&I team within Chemistry. She has led on Chemistry’s two Athena SWAN Silver Awards and works with the Faculty and University team to build collegiality and bring about cultural change.