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From the Paracetamol that cures your headache to the caffeine in your coffee that wakes you up, drugs are everywhere. The discovery and development of new medicines is essential to help cure diseases. This evening, Malcolm and Chris will introduce us to the science of pharmacology, and share with us how their research is aiding the fight against respiratory disease and cancer. This event is kindly sponsored by British Pharmacological Society (BPS) & Queen Mary University of London - Life Science Initiative.
The development of new medicines for respiratory diseases
Dr Malcolm Begg
(Director of Human Translational Models, Respiratory Therapy Area at GlaxoSmithKline)
Despite major advances in therapies for Respiratory diseases there remain patients who continue to suffer from symptoms and experience regular flare-ups. This session will cover how an improved understanding of human biology and the causes of disease have enabled the development of novel therapeutics designed to significantly improve the lives of patients.
Killing cancer with armed molecular ‘assassins’
Dr Chris Schultz
(Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Queen Mary University of London)
Despite the many successes of anti-cancer medicines, they are often ineffective and side effects are common. Cancers utilise damaging molecules for their growth and spread. But what if we used this aggressiveness to activate anti-cancer drugs? By concealing them in a protein shell, we hide the drug from healthy tissues to prevent side effects. When destructive cancer cells are confronted, this ‘shield’ is removed and the drug unleashed! Training current drugs to become molecular ‘assassins’ improves their success, and may help us win battles with additional diseases, including arthritis.
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