Research

Reactive small molecules in health and disease

Our research focuses on understanding how reactive small molecules affect cellular functions in health and disease. In particular, we are interested in defining the biochemistry and biology of formaldehyde, a highly reactive environmental pollutant and human metabolite.

Our work uses combination of biochemistry, enzymology, chemical biology, biophysical and cell biology methods to (1) profile formaldehyde’s biologically relevant chemistry with biomolecules, (2) define human formaldehyde metabolism, and (3) identify the mechanisms underpinning formaldehyde’s biological roles. For more information, please refer to our publications.

We gratefully acknowledge support from the following funders:

• The Royal Society
• The Royal Society of Chemistry
• The Biochemical Society
• The Wellcome Trust