Education Profile
King Abdulaziz University (KAU) Assistant Professor Current Position
University of Cambridge (Postdoc) 2022-2024
University of Cambridge (Ph.D) 2022
University of Nottingham (Master) 2015
Queen Mary University of london (Bachelor of Science) 2014
Profile
Ali is an assistant professor at King Abdulaziz University. He completed his undergraduate studies in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Queen Mary University of London in 2014. Subsequently, he pursued a master's degree in Drug Discovery Pharmaceutical Science at the University of Nottingham in 2015. In 2018, he returned to the United Kingdom to commence his doctoral studies under the guidance of Prof. Sir Tom Blundell at the University of Cambridge, based in the Department of Biochemistry at the Sanger Institute. During his doctoral tenure, his research primarily centered on Computational and Experimental Drug Discovery in Cancer and SARS-CoV-2. Following the completion of his PhD in 2022, he continued his academic journey as a Postdoctoral Researcher under Prof. Blundell's mentorship, specializing in Drug Discovery for infectious diseases, particularly Mycobacterium abscessus.
Research Interests:
Drug Discovery:
Structural Biology: Drug target, protein 3D structures using Cryo-Em, and X-ray
Medicinal Chemistry: Synthesis of varieties of small ligands to improve ligand-target potency
Bioinformatic: Developing biological computational tools, databases, and pipeline for Aging, Cancer and Infectious disease
Research Summary:
Structure-based Drug Discovery: In the realm of drug discovery, a multidisciplinary approach merges structural biology, medicinal chemistry, and bioinformatic tools to forge novel therapeutics. This synergy aims to decipher biomolecular three-dimensional structures, pinpoint potential drug targets, and engineer compounds with heightened efficacy and specificity. Within our laboratory, we embark on a multifaceted endeavor targeting diverse drug entities, encompassing human, bacterial, and viral species. By amalgamating insights from structural biology, medicinal chemistry, and bioinformatics, we attain a comprehensive grasp of drug-target interactions, fostering the strategic design of refined drug candidates. This iterative process entails synthesizing and assessing compound libraries, predicated on computational forecasts and empirical validation of their biological potency. Structural investigations serve as a cornerstone for devising new compounds, which undergo synthesis and subsequent appraisal for their pharmacological attributes
Supervision
Current PhD opportunities
I am currently recruiting self-funded and/or government funded PhD students. Please send your CV to my email afmalsulami1@kau.edu.sa if you are interested in any of my research projects.
PhD supervision