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Jonathan Baell

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Jonathan Baell (né Ball) is trained as an Australian medicinal chemist and is currently executive director, early leads chemistry at Lyterian Therapeutics in San Francisco. Prior to this, he was a research professor in medicinal chemistry at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS),[1] the director of the Australian Translational Medicinal Chemistry Facility[2] and a Chief Investigator at the ARC Centre for Fragment-Based Design.[3] He was President of the International Chemical Biology Society 2018-2021 and is currently chair of the board.[4] His research focuses on the early stages of drug discovery, including high-throughput screening (HTS) library design, hit-to-lead and lead optimization for the treatment of a variety of diseases, such as malaria and neglected diseases.[5]

Early life and education

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Baell was born in Tanzania, East Africa in 1965. He migrated with his family to Tasmania, Australia in 1977. Baell completed a Bachelor of Science with Honours from the University of Tasmania in 1986.[6] He then moved to Melbourne to undertake a PhD project with Professor Peter Andrews and Professor Paul Alewood at the Monash University Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (previously known as the Victorian College of Pharmacy), graduating in 1992.[7]

Career

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At the completion of his PhD, Baell commenced his postdoctoral research at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), quickly rising to the rank of senior research scientist at the age of 28.[8]

In 2001, Baell moved to the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI), where he served as the Head of Medicinal Chemistry for the subsequent decade.[8] During this time, Baell published a paper in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry describing a naturally occurring chemical derived from Ammi visnaga, khellinone, as the basis of a potential new class of immunosuppressive drugs for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.[9] This area of research won him the Biota Award for Medicinal Chemistry from the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) in 2004.[10][11]

After 10 years at WEHI, Baell moved his research lab to MIPS, where he was appointed as a research professor in 2012.[8]

Baell coined the term PAINS (pan-assay interference compounds) to describe chemical compounds that are often picked up as false positive hits from HTS campaigns.[12] His 2010 publication identified the chemical structures of these compounds and constructed electronic filters that can be used in HTS campaigns to remove PAINS from screening hits. The implications of PAINS in the drug discovery pipeline resulted in the American Chemical Society to include the removal of PAINS from screening hits as a publication requirement for its journals in 2017.[13] The impact of Baell's work on PAINS was recognized in 2020 when he was presented the Scientific Achievement Award in Drug Discovery and Development by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.[14]

In 2018, Baell was awarded the Adrien Albert Award by RACI.[15] It is the most prestigious award for RACI Medicinal Chemistry & Chemical Biology Division, given for exceptional research in the field of medicinal chemistry, agricultural chemistry or chemical biology.[16]

Other appointments

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  • Board Member of the International Chemical Biology Society[4]
  • Scientific Advisory Board Member of Compounds Australia[17]
  • Scientific Advisory Board Member of Novick Biosciences[18]
  • Scientific Advisory Board Member of Regen BioPharma, Inc.[19]
  • Scientific Advisory Board Member of TopoGEN, Inc.[20]
  • Scientific Advisory Board Member of SEngine Precision Medicine[21]
  • Senior Editor of Future Medicinal Chemistry[22]
  • Editorial Advisory Board Member of Journal of Medicinal Chemistry[23]
  • Editorial Advisory Board Member of MDPI Methods and Protocol[24]
  • Editorial Advisory Board Member of MDPI Biology[25]
  • Editorial Advisory Board Member of Bentham Current Medicinal Chemistry[26]
  • Committee member of IUPAC Sub-committee for Drug Discovery and Development[27]

Awards and honors

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2004 - Biota Award for Medicinal Chemistry, RACI[10][11]

2018 - Adrien Albert Award, RACI[15]

2019 - Faculty Research Award, Monash University Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences[28]

2020 - Scientific Achievement Award in Drug Discovery and Development, ASPET[14]

Patents

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According to the Espacenet database, Baell has registered 49 patents[29] as of July 2020.

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References

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  1. ^ "Jonathan Baell". Monash University. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Our Team and Contacts". Australian Translational Medicinal Chemistry Facility. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Chief Investigators". ARC Centre for Fragment-Based Design. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b "ICBS Leadership - International Chemical Biology Society". www.chemical-biology.org. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Prof. Jonathan Baell of "PAINS" Filters Fame from Monash University". Collaborative Drug Discovery Inc. (CDD). 7 October 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  6. ^ Ball, Jonathan Bayldon (1986). Synthesis and reactions of some benz[a]indoloquinolizines (Thesis). OCLC 225117022.
  7. ^ Napper, AD (April 2016). "Interview with Jonathan Baell, PhD". ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies. 14 (3): 164–167. doi:10.1089/adt.2016.29035.jba. PMID 27078678.
  8. ^ a b c "Baell, Jonathan". American Chemical Society. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  9. ^ Baell, Jonathan B.; Gable, Robert W.; Harvey, Andrew J.; Toovey, Nathan; Herzog, Tanja; Hänsel, Wolfram; Wulff, Heike (April 2004). "Khellinone Derivatives as Blockers of the Voltage-Gated Potassium Channel Kv1.3: Synthesis and Immunosuppressive Activity". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 47 (9): 2326–2336. doi:10.1021/jm030523s. PMID 15084131.
  10. ^ a b "The Royal Australian Chemical Institute". RACI. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Jonathan Baell wins Biota Award for Medicinal Chemistry". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  12. ^ Baell, Jonathan B.; Holloway, Georgina A. (April 2010). "New Substructure Filters for Removal of Pan Assay Interference Compounds (PAINS) from Screening Libraries and for Their Exclusion in Bioassays". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 53 (7): 2719–2740. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.394.9155. doi:10.1021/jm901137j. PMID 20131845.
  13. ^ Aldrich, Courtney; Bertozzi, Carolyn; Georg, Gunda I.; Kiessling, Laura; Lindsley, Craig; Liotta, Dennis; Merz, Kenneth M.; Schepartz, Alanna; Wang, Shaomeng (March 2017). "The Ecstasy and Agony of Assay Interference Compounds". ACS Central Science. 3 (3): 143–147. doi:10.1021/acscentsci.7b00069. PMC 5364449. PMID 28386587.
  14. ^ a b "2020 Award Winners". ASPET. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  15. ^ a b "MIPS researcher awarded Adrien Albert Award by RACI". Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  16. ^ "Medicinal Chemistry & Chemical Biology Division". www.raci.org.au. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  17. ^ "Strategic Advisory Board". www.griffith.edu.au. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  18. ^ "Scientific Advisory Team – Novick Biosciences". Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  19. ^ "Management Team and Scientific Advisory Board". Regen BioPharma, Inc. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  20. ^ "TopoGEN Scientific Advisory Board". www.topogen.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  21. ^ Medicine, SEngine Precision (25 April 2019). "SEngine Precision Medicine Announces Renowned Medicinal Chemist to Join Scientific Advisory Board". GlobeNewswire News Room (Press release). Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  22. ^ "Future Medicinal Chemistry - Editorial Advisory Board". www.future-science.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  23. ^ "Issue Editorial Masthead". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 63 (14): jmv063i014_1397242. July 2020. doi:10.1021/jmv063i014_1397242.
  24. ^ "Methods and Protocols". www.mdpi.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  25. ^ "Biology". www.mdpi.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  26. ^ "Current Medicinal Chemistry". Current Medicinal Chemistry. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  27. ^ "Committee Details". IUPAC | International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  28. ^ "The Faculty Research Award". Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  29. ^ "Espacenet – search results". worldwide.espacenet.com. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
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