Professor Isabel Rozas

Isabel Rozas was born in Madrid (Spain). After completing her BSc (honours) in Chemistry at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1981, and her "Licenciado de grado" degree (similar to a MSc) in 1982, her PhD research was embarked upon at the Instituto de Quimica Medica in the National Council of Research (CSIC) in Madrid, and the degree achieved in 1987 at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Thereafter, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at both the Department of Chemistry of the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) between 1989 and 1990, and the Department of Chemistry of Queen's University in Kingston (Canada) between 1993 and 1994. She worked as a researcher in the Medicinal Chemistry Institute (CSIC) until the year 2000, thereafter joining the School of Chemistry in TCD as a Lecturer. After being promoted to Senior Lecturer, and becoming a Fellow of TCD (2005), she became Associate Professor (later named Professor in) in 2011. She has supervised 20 PhD students and 5 MSc, earned approximately 2,500,000 EUR in research income and published 173 peer-reviewed research outcomes. During 2009-2012 she served as External Examiner in Organic/Medicinal Chemistry at the School of Chemistry in NUI Maynooth and during 2012-2016 in the Department of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Chemistry (serving the Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine) at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Additionally, she has held positions as Director of the Medicinal Chemistry Moderatorship, member of the Fellowship Central committee, Head of Organic, Medicinal and Biological Chemistry at the School of Chemistry, Director of Postgraduate Teaching and Learning, Director of Research and Director of Global Relationships at the School of Chemistry, Director of Dublin Chemistry postgraduate program, Tutor and served in numerous College committees and selection panels. Moreover, she has served in different scientific committees such as the Irish section of the ERA-Chemistry panel, the Irish Centre of High-End Computing, the XXIII EFMC-International Symposium in Medicinal Chemistry (Lisbon, September 2014), the 12th WATOC Theoretical Chemistry conference (Vancouver, July 2022) and the 9th EuChemS conference (Dublin, July 2024). Additionally, she has organised the first Medicinal Chemistry Ireland conference in 2016 (TCD, Dublin) and co-organised the second and third editions (DCU-2018, NUI-Galway-2022); besides, she has driven the foundation of the Division of Medicinal and Biological Chemistry within the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland (ICI) -for which she is the Chairperson- and its adherence to the European Federation of Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology (EFMC) in 2022. Between 2019 and 2022 she was an Editor of the journal Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters (Elsevier) and now she is the Editor of Special Issues for the Results in Chemistry journal (Elsevier).

  Anticancer therapies   Chemistry of drug receptor interactions   Computational Biology   Computational chemistry and modelling   Computer assisted drug design   Depression   Design and synthesis of drugs   Drug development and evaluation   Drug discovery   Genitourinary, prostatic function and disease   Hetrocyclic chemistry   Hydrogen bonding   Malaria   Medicinal Chemistry   Molecular Biology   Neurodegeneration   Organic chemistry   Protein chemistry, structure and folding   Quantum chemistry   Structural Biology, Determination, Function   Synthesis and new molecules   Theoretical chemistry

I am a leading Medicinal Chemist aiming to find new therapies to cure human diseases. My expert opinion and innovating research on compounds binding to the DNA minor-groove and guanidinium derivatives is internationally recognized, with my research's impact being reflected in increasing citations (>9000, Google-Scholar). This high number of citations clearly indicates the greater influence of my work on the Medicinal Chemistry community, showing a track-record of continued and sustained excellence. My research is now more productive than ever, highlighting a continuing trajectory of research impact. In the drug discovery process, there are different phases: 1) selection of a target relevant to the disease of interest (e.g. enzyme, receptor, oligonucleotide); 2) discovery of a 'hit' which is a compound that engages with the aimed target, i.e. shows the bioactivity sought; 3) optimization of the 'hit' to a 'lead' by improving its bioactivity and decreasing its toxicity in cells and animals; and 4) only when the 'lead' compound shows optimal bioactivity and minimum toxicity, it can undergo human clinical trials. My research focusses in the first three phases involving medicinal and computational chemistry along with collaborations with biochemists, microbiologists and/or pharmacologists depending on the bioactivity aimed. I combine experimental and computational work making my group unique in its multidisciplinary nature, working along excellent biochemistry, microbiology and pharmacology collaborators. The multi-faceted approach of my research underlines different novel contributions both in Computational Chemistry (modelling drug-target engagement, studying non-covalent interactions established in drug-target complexes) and Experimental Medicinal Chemistry (design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of compounds binding to alpha2-adrenoceptors or to DNA minor-groove, or compounds inhibiting protein kinases involved in multiple myeloma, InhA enzyme related to tuberculosis or TMPRSS2 protease involved in virus entry to human cells in Covid19). Despite the diversity of bioactivities aimed in these projects, all compounds developed are structurally connected since they all contain a particular chemical functionality, the guanidinium group. I am considered an expert in the chemistry of guanidinium derivatives. The most important research achievements are: -Contributing to a new IUPAC definition of Hydrogen-Bond interactions, which are key to drug-target complexes. -Patent applications (USA) for alpha2-adrenoceptors antagonists as antidepressants. -Hundreds of DNA minor-groove binders as 'lead' potential therapies for neuroblastoma or breast cancer, or as potential treatments for malaria and Chagas-disease helping to understand the relevance of this target in those conditions. I am internationally recognized as an expert in DNA minor-groove binders. -Two new 'lead' compounds showing excellent anti-tuberculosis activity. -Major SFI-funding to prepare compounds to stop the entrance of the SARS-CoV-2 virus into lung cells. My emphasis is on producing innovative research to be translated into biologically active 'lead' compounds. Since becoming Professor-In, I have published 69 international peer-reviewed publications (173 in total). The significance of my research can be judged by the quality of the journals where I publish and international recognition. Thus, while the average citation-per-article in Medicinal-Chemistry is 29.15 (WoS), the average citation for each of my 173 publications is 44.75. All these indicators positively compare with international Full-Professors/Chairs in the field.