Jonathan Baell's Biography

Jonathan Baell, Professor , Monash University

Prof. Jonathan Baell, Ph.D is a Larkins Fellow, Director of the Australian Translational Medicinal Chemistry Facility and an NHMRC Principal Research Fellow, at Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS). He obtained his PhD in 1992 under Professors Peter Andrews and Paul Alewood. Then he obtained a senior position in Australia’s prestigious National Scientific Organisation, CSIRO, where later at the age of 28 he became CSIRO’s youngest Senior Research Scientist. After a decade as Head of Medicinal Chemistry at Australia’s Premier Medical Research Institute, WEHI, he was appointed as a research professor at MIPS, which in 2017 was ranked #2 in the world for Pharmacy and Pharmacology (QS World University Rankings). His interests are in the design of quality of HTS libraries, medicinal chemistry hit-to-lead and lead optimization, and computer-aided peptidomimetic design in order to generate compounds with potential therapeutic utility and of value. He has papers in Nature, Nature Chemical Biology and Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (10) and over 40 granted pharmaceutical patents making key contributions to a number of compounds in various stages of development, from preclinical to one currently in phase I clinical trials for anxiolysis, and has consulted widely for the Australian Biotechnology Industry. In 2005 he was awarded the 2004 Biota Medal, a National Award for Excellence in Medicinal Chemistry for an early to mid-career researcher. His 2010 HTS publication on Pan Assay Interference Compounds, or PAINS, and has been most highly cited primary research article in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry over a 3-year period.