Environmental and Biological Chemistry

The Centre for Chemical Research has a growing interest spanning from biological chemistry in its widest interpretation to environmental and sustainable chemistry. A broad objective of our research is to use chemical approaches to engineer and decipher biology with a main goal of creating lasting, positive impacts on environmental and human health.

Using cutting-edge experimental approaches, we investigate artificial cells that display life-like functions, synthetic materials that steer cellular behaviour, and materials such as “smart-probes” for clinical and pre-clinical imaging and intelligent drug delivery systems. From a computational approach, we study ion channels and transporters as well as structural, dynamical and mechanical properties of proteins. Acutely aware of the global environmental challenge, we examine heavy metals, nanomaterials, and microplastics, and their consequential effects on both the environment and human health.

Model of allosteric communication in myosin bound to the first-in-class cardiac myosin activator omecamtiv mecarbil