Head of Drug Discovery
Epichem
Murdoch, Australia
http://www.epichem.com.au/index.php
Dr Martine Keenan, Epichem’s Head of Drug Discovery, is a creative synthetic and medicinal chemist with a commitment to high quality drug discovery and has over 15 years professional experience in the pharmaceutical industry. She obtained her BSc from Kings’ College in London, completing a PhD in natural product synthesis at the same institution before moving to Germany to take up a post-doctoral position developing chiral catalysts for asymmetric hydrogenation.
Returning to the UK in 1998, Martine took up a medicinal chemistry position in the neuroscience division of international pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and remained there for eight years working on a variety of projects. She made a significant contribution to Lilly’s fledgling nicotinic platform leading project teams designing and synthesising novel compounds as potential new treatments for CNS indications.
A move to Perth, Australia enabled her to join Epichem in 2008 to lead the medicinal chemistry team working on the development of novel drugs for protozoan parasitic diseases as part of an international consortium funded by a leading R&D Non-Government Organisation. She was appointed Head of Drug Discovery in 2009 and has been working to expand Epichem’s R&D portfolio as well managing contract medicinal chemistry projects for an expanding list of clients. She has extensive expertise in all phases of preclinical discovery including design and synthesis of novel analogues, computer-aided drug design, compound optimisation towards drug candidates and successful delivery of project milestones.
