Influential role for leading Southampton chemist
Professor Phil Gale, Head of Chemistry at the University of Southampton has been elected Chair of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry group. He will hold the position for the next four years.
Phil will head a committee that represents the interests of macrocyclic and supramolecular chemists in the UK and organises an annual meeting at which around 200 chemists from around the world meet to discuss the latest developments in this interdisciplinary area.
Phil's research in supramolecular chemistry focuses on the design and synthesis of molecules that recognise anions such as chloride and bicarbonate and bind to them selectively. "We are developing compounds that will allow anions to cross cell membranes" said Phil.
"Chloride and bicarbonate transport across epithelial cell membranes is reduced in patients with cystic fibrosis. We are exploring whether we can use our compounds to restore anion transport in these cells and hence provide a potential new future treatment for this disease."
Dr Cally Haynes is also working on this EPSRC funded project in collaboration with co-workers at the University of Bristol. Cally won a prize for the best short talk at the Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry group meeting in London in December 2012.
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Professor Philip A Gale MA DPhil DSc (Oxon) FRSC FRACI CChem CSci
Professor Phil Gale is Professor of Supramolecular Chemistry at the University of Southampton. His research interests are in the recognition, sensing and lipid bilayer transport of anionic species.
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