Description:

Photocatalysis as an enabling tool for chemical and molecular biology

My group is generally motivated to develop methods to elucidate the mechanisms that underpin the bioactivity of therapeutics, and to discover new therapeutic opportunities.  We employ highly selective photocatalyzed reactions to understand how critical biological processes are regulated in a cellular environment. This seminar will discuss our efforts to elucidate small molecule mechanism of action.

In many cases, the molecular mechanism behind ligand function remains largely unknown and this lack of mechanistic understanding impedes the development of new, more clinically effective ligands. Specifically, we apply proximity labeling methods driven by visible light to discern the impact a ligand has on important cellular microenvironments, such as the complex interactome displayed by chromatin.

Bio
Ciaran Seath completed his PhD in chemistry from the University of Strathclyde in 2017 under the supervision of Dr Allan Watson studying chemoselective transition-metal catalysis. During this time, he also spent time in the labs of Prof. Tom Snaddon at Indiana University working on total synthesis of complex natural products, and with Prof. Glenn Burley on the development of novel click chemistries for nucleoside bioconjugation. 

He then moved to Emory University as a postdoctoral researcher working in the laboratory of Professor Nathan Jui developing novel reductive photoredox methodologies. During this time, Ciaran worked on new synthetic methods to access alkylated heterocycles and complex fluorinated scaffolds.

In 2019, Ciaran moved to Princeton University to work with Professors David MacMillan and Tom Muir where he explored new photocatalytic methods for proximity labelling to investigate critical aspects of cancer biology.

Currently, Ciaran is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Scripps-UF in Jupiter, Florida.