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 | Biography |  |
Dr Ben Ross is a chemist with interests in pharmaceutical and biomolecular chemistry. Ben Ross graduated with a First-Class Honours Degree in Chemistry (1999) and a Doctorate in the field of Medicinal Chemistry (2004). In June 2006 Ben was appointed to a Lectureship within the School of Pharmacy where he leads the Biomolecular Pharmaceutical Chemistry Laboratory. Ben’s research spans the disciplines of pharmaceutical and biomolecular chemistry. Areas of interest are drug design, peptide/protein biochemistry and biophysics, carbohydrate chemistry, organic synthesis, and dendrimer chemistry. A current focus of his research is Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Projects include the design, synthesis and evaluation of inhibitors of beta-amyloid aggregation and inhibitors of the neuronal uptake of toxic amyloid oligomers. Understanding the mechanism of disease enables the design of potent and selective drugs. Ben’s laboratory studies the effect of extrinsic factors on the aggregation of beta-amyloid to advance our knowledge of the molecular basis of AD. To accomplish these goals, the Biomolecular Pharmaceutical Chemistry Laboratory utilises synthetic chemistry (organic, peptide, carbohydrate, macromolecular) to generate novel molecules that are used a probes and drug candidates in a variety of biophysical screening assays based-on dynamic light scattering, fluorescence spectroscopy, circular dichroism, size-exclusion chromatography, and transmission electron microscopy. Lead molecules progress to advanced biophysical examination, cell-based assays, and animal studies via collaboration with researchers from UQ and overseas. For further information visit www.drbenross.com .
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