Simon Newstead appointed as David Phillips Professor of Molecular Biophysics

We are delighted to announce that Simon Newstead, MBiochem Bath, PhD St Andrews, and Professor of Molecular Biology in the Department of Biochemistry, has been appointed as David Phillips Professor of Molecular Biophysics.

Simon Newstead's research focuses on understanding how nutrient transporters function at a molecular level. In humans, many of the membrane proteins involved in absorbing nutrients from our diet are also responsible for drug transport and distribution into specific organs, including the central nervous system, liver, kidneys and gastrointestinal tract. Nutrient transporters therefore have a profound impact on the pharmacokinetic properties of many administered drugs with clear medical advantages in understanding their structure, biochemistry and regulation.

You can learn more about Simon Newstead's work on his departmental profile, his college page, and on his group's homepage.

The David Phillips Professorship of Molecular Biophysics is named after David Phillips, a structural biologist who, in 1965, first published the structure of Lysozyme. This is an enzyme found in tears, saliva, and mucus- three key parts of the body's defence against bacteria.

About his new appointment, Professor Newstead said: “It’s a great honour to be the David Phillips Chair. I am excited to have this opportunity to build structural biology and membrane protein research in Oxford Biochemistry and the Kavli Institute."

Written by: Lucio Pezzella