Matthew John Fuchter is a British chemist who is a Professor of Chemistry at
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
.
His research focuses on the development and application of novel functional molecular systems to a broad range of areas; from materials to medicine. He has been awarded both the
Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize (2014) and the
Corday–Morgan Prizes (2021) of the
Royal Society of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...
.
In 2020 he was a finalist for the
Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists
Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists was established in 2007 through a partnership between the Blavatnik Family Foundation, headed by Leonard Blavatnik (Russian: Леонид Валентинович Блаватник), chairman of Access Indust ...
.
Early life and education
Fuchter earned a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. (MSci) in
chemistry
Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
at the
University of Bristol
, mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'')
, established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter
, type ...
, where he was awarded the Richard Dixon prize.
It was during his undergraduate degree that he first became interested in organic synthesis. As a graduate student he moved to
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
, where he worked with
Anthony Barrett
Anthony Gerard Martin Barrett FRS, FMedSci is a British chemist, and Sir Derek Barton Professor of Synthesis, Glaxo Professor of Organic Chemistry at Imperial College London. He is Director of the Wolfson Centre for Organic Chemistry in Medica ...
on the synthesis and applications of
porphyrazine
Porphyrazines, or tetraazaporphyrins, are tetrapyrrole macrocycles similar to porphyrins and phthalocyanines. Pioneered by Sir R. Patrick Linstead as an extension of his work on phthalocyanines, porphyrazines differ from porphyrins in that they c ...
s, including as
therapeutic agents
A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to medical diagnosis, diagnose, cure, treat, or preventive medicine, prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an imp ...
. During his doctoral studies Barrett and Fuchter collaborated with
Brian M. Hoffman at
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
.
Research and career
After completing his PhD, Fuchter moved to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, for
postdoctoral research
A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...
at
CSIRO
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...
and the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
, where he worked with
Andrew Bruce Holmes
Andrew Bruce Holmes (born 5 September 1943) is an Australian and British senior research chemist and professor at the Bio21 Institute, Melbourne, Australia, and the past President of the Australian Academy of Science. His research interests l ...
.
In 2007 Fuchter returned to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, where he began his independent academic career at the
School of Pharmacy, University of London
The UCL School of Pharmacy (formerly The School of Pharmacy, University of London) is the pharmacy school of University College London (UCL). The School forms part of UCL's Faculty of Life Sciences and is located in London, United Kingdom.
The ...
(now
UCL School of Pharmacy
The UCL School of Pharmacy (formerly The School of Pharmacy, University of London) is the pharmacy school
The basic requirement for pharmacists to be considered for registration is often an undergraduate or postgraduate pharmacy degree from ...
).
Less than one year later he was appointed a Lecturer at
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
, where he was promoted to
Reader (Associate Professor) in 2015 and Professor in 2019.
Fuchter is interested in how considerations of chirality can be applied to the development of novel approaches in chiral optoelectronic materials and devices.
In particular, he focusses on the introduction of chiral-optical (so-called chiroptical) properties into optoelectronic materials.
Amongst these materials, Fuchter has extensively evaluated the use of chiral small molecule additives (
helicene
In organic chemistry, helicenes are ortho-condensed polycyclic aromatic compounds in which benzene rings or other aromatics are angularly annulated to give helically-shaped chiral molecules. The chemistry of helicenes has attracted continuing ...
s
) to induce chiroptical properties into
light emitting polymers for the realisation of chiral (
circularly polarised, CP)
OLED
An organic light-emitting diode (OLED or organic LED), also known as organic electroluminescent (organic EL) diode, is a light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compound that emits light i ...
s.
He has also investigated the application of such materials in circularly polarised
photodetector
Photodetectors, also called photosensors, are sensors of light or other electromagnetic radiation. There is a wide variety of photodetectors which may be classified by mechanism of detection, such as Photoelectric effect, photoelectric or photoc ...
s, which are devices that are capable of detecting circularly polarised light.
As well as using chiral functional materials for light emission and detection, Fuchter has investigated the charge transport properties of enantiopure and racemic chiral functional materials.
Fuchter has also developed novel molecular photoswitches – molecules that can be cleanly and reversibly interconverted between two states using light – with a focus on heteroaromatic versions of
azobenzene
Azobenzene is a photoswitchable chemical compound composed of two phenyl rings linked by a N=N double bond. It is the simplest example of an aryl azo compound. The term 'azobenzene' or simply 'azo' is often used to refer to a wide class of simi ...
. The arylazopyrazole switches developed by Fuchter out perform the ubiquitous azobenzene switches, demonstrating complete photoswitching in both directions and thermal half-lives of the ''Z'' isomer of up to 46 years. Fuchter continues to apply these switches to a range of photoaddressable applications from
photopharmacology
Photopharmacology, an emerging approach in medicine, involves activating and deactivating photoswitchable molecules with light for target drug delivery. Clinicians use the energy of light to change the shape and chemical properties of a drug, res ...
to
energy storage
Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production.
A device that stores energy is generally called an accumulator or battery.
Energy comes in ...
.
Alongside his work on functional material discovery, Fuchter works in
medicinal chemistry
Medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacy involved with designing and developing pharmaceutical drugs. Medicinal chemistry involves the identification, synthesis and developm ...
and develops small molecule ligands that can either inhibit or stimulate the activity of disease relevant proteins.
While he has worked on many drug targets, he has specialised in proteins involved in the transcriptional and
epigenetic
In biology, epigenetics is the study of stable phenotypic changes (known as ''marks'') that do not involve alterations in the DNA sequence. The Greek prefix '' epi-'' ( "over, outside of, around") in ''epigenetics'' implies features that are "o ...
processes of disease. A particular interest has been the development of inhibitors for the
histone-lysine methyltransferase enzymes in the ''
Plasmodium
''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a vert ...
'' parasite that causes human malaria.
In 2018 one of the cancer drugs developed by Fuchter, together with Anthony Barrett, Simak Ali and Charles Coombes entered a
phase 1 clinical trial
The phases of clinical research are the stages in which scientists conduct experiments with a health intervention to obtain sufficient evidence for a process considered effective as a medical treatment. For drug development, the clinical phases ...
, and as of 2020, it is in phase 2.
The drug, which was designed using
computational chemistry
Computational chemistry is a branch of chemistry that uses computer simulation to assist in solving chemical problems. It uses methods of theoretical chemistry, incorporated into computer programs, to calculate the structures and properties of m ...
, inhibits the
cyclin-dependent kinase 7
Cyclin-dependent kinase 7, or cell division protein kinase 7, is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''CDK7'' gene.
The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the cyclin-dependent protein kinase (CDK) family. CDK family members are h ...
(CDK7), a transcriptional regulatory protein that also regulates the cell cycle. Certain cancers rely on CDK7, so inhibition of this enzyme has potential to have a significant impact on cancer pathogenesis.
Academic service
Fuchter serves on the
editorial board
The editorial board is a group of experts, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take.
Mass media
At a newspaper, the editorial board usually consists of the editorial page editor, a ...
of ''
MedChemComm
''MedChemComm'' (in full: ''Medicinal Chemistry Communications'') is a peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing original (primary) research and review articles on all aspects of medicinal chemistry, including drug discovery, pharmacology and p ...
''. He is an elected council member of the
Royal Society of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...
organic division.
Fuchter is co-Director of the
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
Centre for Drug Discovery Science.
Awards and honours
* 2014
Royal Society of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...
Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize
* 2014 Elected a
Fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC)
* 2015
Thieme Medical Publishers
Thieme Medical Publishers is a German medical and science publisher in the Thieme Publishing Group. It produces professional journals, textbooks, atlases, monographs and reference books in both German and English covering a variety of medical ...
Chemistry Journal Awardee
* 2017
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
President's Award for Excellence in Research
* 2017 Imperial College London President’s Medal for Excellence in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
* 2018 ''
Tetrahedron
In geometry, a tetrahedron (plural: tetrahedra or tetrahedrons), also known as a triangular pyramid, is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, six straight edges, and four vertex corners. The tetrahedron is the simplest of all the o ...
'' Young Investigator Award
* 2018
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical sciences, mainly to universi ...
(EPSRC) Established career fellowship
* 2020
Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists
Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists was established in 2007 through a partnership between the Blavatnik Family Foundation, headed by Leonard Blavatnik (Russian: Леонид Валентинович Блаватник), chairman of Access Indust ...
*2021
Royal Society of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Ro ...
Corday–Morgan Prize
The Corday–Morgan Medal and Prize is awarded by the Royal Society of Chemistry for the most meritorious contributions to experimental chemistry, including computer simulation. The prize was established by chemist Gilbert Morgan, who named it af ...
Selected publications
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuchter, Matthew
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
British chemists
Alumni of the University of Bristol
Alumni of Imperial College London
Academics of Imperial College London
Medicinal chemistry
Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry