Professor Simon Newstead Awarded Wellcome Trust Discovery Award for Research on Solute Carrier Biology

Professor Simon Newstead Awarded Wellcome Trust Discovery Award for Research on Solute Carrier Biology

We are pleased to share that Kavli Oxford Professor Simon Newstead, who also holds the David Phillips Professorship of Molecular Biophysics at the University of Oxford’s Department of Biochemistry, has received a Wellcome Trust Discovery Award.

His project, ‘Solute Carrier Biology: Linking Transport and Signalling in the Cell’, will investigate how solute carrier (SLC) transporters—proteins that move nutrients and drugs across cell membranes—are linked to cellular signalling and human health.

The Wellcome Discovery Awards provide support for established researchers and teams pursuing research that aims to improve understanding of human life, health and wellbeing.

Simon’s research focuses on the structure and function of membrane proteins involved in nutrient uptake and drug transport. His group uses techniques such as protein crystallisation, single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), and a range of biochemical and functional assays to study these transporters at a molecular level. Their work contributes to understanding how drugs are absorbed and distributed in the body, with potential implications for healthcare and treatment strategies.

Reflecting on the award, Simon said:

“Receiving this grant is a recognition of the talented researchers, particularly Dr Jo Parker, who played a crucial role in developing the ideas and preliminary data for this award. I am excited to work with them as we pursue our vision of understanding the role of drug and nutrient transporters in human health and disease.”

The group’s current research focuses on several families of secondary active SLC transporters linked to drug transport, including the SLC15 peptide transporters (PepT1 and PepT2), amino acid transporters (SLC7, SLC36, SLC38 families), and nucleotide sugar transporters (SLC35 family).

For more information about the group and their research, visit: www.newsteadgroup.org.

Since April 2021, Oxford University's KAVLI Institute for Nanoscience Discovery is proudly serving as a hub for research groups from seven different departments spanning both the medical and physical sciences, including the Newstead Group from the Department of Biochemistry.