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Prof. Peter Sadler

Professor of Chemistry


Design and chemical mechanism of action of therapeutic metal complexes, including organometallic arene anticancer complexes, photoactivated metal anticancer complexes (for photochemotherapy), metallomacrocycles as antivirals and stem-cell-mobilising agents, and metalloantibiotics.

p dot j dot sadler at warwick dot ac dot uk

02476 5 23818

Office C5.14

Prof. Peter SadlerLink opens in a new window

Office Hours:

Any time by prior appointment.

Groups at Warwick


Affiliations

  • Fellow of the Royal Society.

Biography

Peter Sadler obtained his BA, MA and DPhil at the University of Oxford. Subsequently he was a Medical Research Council Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge and National Institute of Medical Research. From 1973-96 he was Lecturer, Reader and Professor at Birkbeck College, University of London, and from 1996-2007 Crum Brown Chair of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, also Director of the Edinburgh Protein Interaction Centre and EastChem Cancer Research UK Cancer Medicinal Chemistry Centre. In June 2007 he took up a Chair in Chemistry at the University of Warwick as Head of Department, where he is now a Professor.

Peter is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE), and the Royal Society of London (FRS), and an EPSRC RISE Fellow (Recognising Inspirational Scientists and Engineers). He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Chemical Research Society of India, an Honorary Fellow of the Chinese Chemical Society, and a Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences.

I am working on the following projects at the moment:

Design and mechanism of action of metallodrugs, including anticancer, antimicrobial and antiviral compounds, and metal neurochemistry.

Especially the design of photoactivatable therapeutic agents, luminescent theranostic agents, catalytic organometallic drugs, and molecular chronotherapy. Molecular cell biology and atomic resolution coordination chemistry.

Application of a variety of techniques, including synchrotron x-ray absorption and fluorescence, mapping elements in intact cells and tissues, ultra high resolution mass spectrometry, multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, EPR, optical spectroscopy, Raman and IR spectroscopy, ICP-MS and ICP-OES, HPLC, XPS, x-ray crystallography, confocal microscopy, TEM (including atomic resolution), radionuclide tracers.

Chemistry of metals in medicine (bioinorganic chemistry, inorganic chemical biology and medicine).

Design and chemical mechanism of action of therapeutic metal complexes, including organometallic arene anticancer complexes, photoactivated metal anticancer complexes (for photochemotherapy), metallomacrocycles as antivirals and stem-cell-mobilising agents, and metalloantibiotics.

Besides synthesis of co-ordination complexes, research involves studies of interactions with targets such as RNA, DNA and proteins, and often industrial and international interdisciplinary collaborations.

Supervision of Masters research projects.


Current Post-Docs:

  • Dr Cinzia Imberti
  • Dr Russell Needham
  • Dr Huayun Shi

I am supervising the following PhD students:

  • Wenying Zhang
  • Lizzie Bolitho
  • Ollie Carter
  • Edward Lant
  • Zijin Zhang
  • Jane Donnelly
  • Marta Palau Requena

At the moment I am unable to accept any further applications, but if you get in touch I'll see if a member of my team might be able to help.

Recent Publications
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X-ray Tomography of Cryopreserved Human Prostate Cancer Cells: Mitochondrial Targeting by an Organo-Iridium Photosensitizer

E. M. Bolitho, C. Sanchez-Cano, H. Huang, I. Hands-Portman, M. Spink, P. D. Quinn, M. Harkiolaki, P. J. Sadler

J. Biol. Inorg. Chem. 2020, 25, 295-303

DOI: 10.1007/s00775-020-01761-8

 

How promising is phototherapy for cancer?

H. Shi, P. J. Sadler

Br. J. Cancer 2020, in press

 

Label-free Nanoimaging of Neuromelanin in the Brain by Soft X-ray Spectromicroscopy

J. Brooks, J. Everett, F. Lermyte, V. Tjendana Tjhin, S. Banerjee, P. B. O'Connor, C. M. Morris, P. J. Sadler, N. Telling, J. F. Collingwood

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, in press

DOI:10.1002/anie.202000239 and 10.1002/ange.202000239

 

A Periodic Table for Life and Medicines

R. J. Needham, P. J. Sadler

In: Mingos D. (eds) The Periodic Table II. Structure and Bonding, Springer, Cham, 2019, 182, pp 175-201

 

150 Years of the Periodic Table: New Medicines and Diagnostic Agents

C. Imberti, P. J. Sadler

Adv. Inorg. Chem. 2020, 75, 3-56

 

Metal Complexes as a Promising Source for New Antibiotics

A. Frei, J. Zuegg, A. G. Eliott, M. Baker, S. Braese, C. Brown, F. Chen, C. Dowson, G. Dujardin, N. Jung, A. P. King, A. M. Mansour, M. Massi, J. Moat, H. A. Mohamed, A. K. Renfrew, P. J. Rutledge, P. J.Sadler, M. H. Todd, C. E. Todd, C. E. Willians, J. J. Wilson, M. A. Cooper, M. A. T. Blaskovich

Chem. Sci. 2020, 11, 2627-2639

https://doi.org/10.1039/C9SC06460E