Professor Akane Kawamura - 2023 Chemistry Biology Interface mid-career Prize: Jeremy Knowles Award winner

Professor Akane Kawamura FRSC

Winner: 2023 Chemistry Biology Interface mid-career Prize: Jeremy Knowles Award

Newcastle University

For the development and application of cutting-edge technologies and chemical probes to study and modulate therapeutically important biological processes.

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My interest in chemistry was initially sparked by a chance encounter at the age of 12, when a friend’s cousin, a university student studying pharmacy, introduced me to a chemical structure of aspirin in her text book.

Professor Akane Kawamura works at the interface between chemistry, biology and medicine. Her research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms of enzymes and proteins that are linked to diseases, such as cancer, and developing chemical tools to study and modulate their function.
Akane’s group employs a variety of biochemical, biophysical and cell-based methods, alongside the development of peptide and small molecule based chemical tools. Her group has a particular interest in proteins that regulate epigenetic modifications on histones and DNA to improve our understanding of their mechanisms and how they influence the expression of genes in cancer. Her group also works on tackling challenging protein-protein interactions of biomedical importance, including cancer targets, chemokine signalling and inflammation.

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Akane Kawamura is a Professor of Chemical Biology at Newcastle University. She obtained her MChem in chemistry and DPhil in pharmacology (with Professor Edith Sim) from the University of Oxford. Akane then worked in the biotech sector, leading a number of drug discovery projects across a wide range of therapeutic areas. In 2009, she returned to Oxford as a senior postdoctoral scientist under Professor Chris Schofield FRS.

Akane is a recipient of the British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence Senior Research Fellowship (2012) and a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship (2013). She joined Newcastle University as a Chair and Professor of Chemical Biology in 2019 . Her research has been supported by the Royal Society, Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation, UK Research and Innovation, and the European Research Council.

Q&A

How did you first become interested in chemistry?

My interest in chemistry was initially sparked by a chance encounter at an age of 12, when a friend’s cousin, a university student studying pharmacy, introduced me to a chemical structure of aspirin in her text book. Fascinated to learn that such a small molecule can have significant biological effect in a complex human body, I was eager to learn more about how medicines are made. My interest in chemistry was further reinforced by my high school chemistry teacher who made chemistry interesting, exciting and fun.

Why do you think teamwork is important in science?

For me, scientific research is synonymous with teamwork, and working with others is key to innovation and scientific advancements. A team can bring together different ideas, diverse knowledge, expertise and skill sets to solve complex problems, and achieve what may sometimes be considered impossible. I have been incredibly fortunate to work with many talented and inspiring people during my career – my group, past and present, colleagues, mentors and many collaborators from different disciplines, sectors and from across the world. It is one of the elements I enjoy the most about being a scientist.