Rate My Professor Mark Searcey

Mark Searcey is Chair of Medicinal Chemistry in the School of Chemistry, Pharmacy and Pharmacology at the University of East Anglia. He earned a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry from Loughborough University in 1985 and a PhD from Hatfield Polytechnic in 1989. His academic career began with a postdoctoral position at Queen Mary College, University of London, focusing on polyclonal catalytic antibodies from 1989 to 1991. He then served as a research scientist at St Luke’s Institute of Cancer Research, University College Dublin, from 1991 to 1996, followed by roles as assistant professor and research associate at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, from 1997 to 1999. Searcey was a senior lecturer at the School of Pharmacy, University of London, from 2000 to 2006. Upon joining UEA as Reader in Medicinal Chemistry in 2006, he advanced to Chair in 2010. He held leadership positions including Head of the School of Chemistry from 2009 to 2014, Head of the School of Pharmacy from 2014 to 2019, and Pro Vice-Chancellor for Science from 2019 to 2024. Currently, he is Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the School of Chemistry, Pharmacy and Pharmacology and accepts PhD students.

Searcey’s research in medicinal chemistry centers on designing small molecules and peptides that target DNA structures, such as four-way and three-way junctions, and protein-protein interactions for anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial applications. Key projects involve the duocarmycin family redesigned as prodrugs activated by CYP1A1 and CYP2W1, chlorofusin analogues via solid-phase synthesis, and inhibitors of interactions like p53/MDM2, Nrf2/Keap1, and PD-1/PD-L1. His publications include 'Advances in triterpene drug discovery' (Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, 2024), 'Borylation via iridium catalysed C-H activation: a new concise route to duocarmycin derivatives' (Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, 2024), 'Light-activated azobenzene peptide inhibitor of the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction' (Chemical Communications, 2024), and 'The development of potent, competitive CXCR4 antagonists for the prevention of cancer metastasis' (Biochemical Pharmacology, 2023). Earlier seminal works feature the first crystal structure of a ligand binding to a four-way Holliday junction (Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2007) and the initial synthesis of the chlorofusin peptide (Organic Letters, 2003). With 84 journal articles, 16 abstracts, 5 patents, and 2 book chapters, his contributions advance drug design targeting DNA and protein interfaces. Searcey serves as a member of L'Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale since 2021 and Governor of West Suffolk College from 2023 to 2027.