Angela Russell's Biography

Angela Russell, Professor, University of Oxford

Angela gained her MChem degree from the University of Oxford in 2000 and her DPhil in Organic Chemistry in 2004 under the joint supervision of Steve Davies and Tim Perera from Yamanouchi plc (now Astellas Pharma Inc.). In March 2006 she became a Departmental Research Lecturer in Organic Chemistry and in July 2007 was awarded a prestigious Research Councils’ UK Fellowship in Medicinal Chemistry jointly between the Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacology in Oxford. In 2012 she was appointed as University Lecturer, and in 2014 became an Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in Oxford. Angela’s research interests broadly encompass the development of small molecules to control developmental processes. Angela has realised several successful multidisciplinary research collaborations, including identifying small molecules to upregulate utrophin for the treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, developing novel inhibitors and activators of developmental signaling pathways and new anti-cancer agents. Since 2007 Angela has initiated a number of collaborative programmes involving the discovery and development of small molecules to manipulate stem cell fate both in vitro and in vivo. Angela’s work has resulted in >80 publications and patent filings to date. She has founded two spin out companies to date, MuOx Ltd (acquired by Summit Therapeutics plc in November 2013) and OxStem Ltd. In 2016 OxStem was awarded the Best Biotech Start-up Company Award for its disruptive approach to the field of regenerative medicine, and Angela was named as a ‘Rising Star’ in the BioBeat 50 Movers and Shakers in BioBusiness report in recognition of her achievements in entrepreneurship and the translation of science.