Ali Tavassoli is professor of chemical biology at the University of Southampton in the U.K., and Chief Scientific Officer at Curve Therapeutics. Ali's research efforts are directed towards the discovery and development of protein-protein interaction inhibitors. Ali Currently leads an interdisciplinary team of scientists whose efforts are focused on the development of novel chemical tools that enable new insight into the role of protein-protein interactions in cell biology, and as the starting point for new therapeutics.
The main focus of the Tavassoli lab is the identification of cyclic peptide inhibitors of protein-protein interaction using a genetically encoded high-throughput screening platform. Our goal is the development of compounds capable of disrupting the association and assembly of protein complexes. The compounds uncovered in our lab serve as valuable tools that allow better understanding of the role of individual protein-protein interactions in cells. These compounds also form the starting point for the development of therapeutic compounds that target key protein-protein interactions in disease. Our research group is focused on training scientists at the chemistry-biology interface, and using these interdisciplinary skills to help understand the fundamentals of cell biology and to develop new therapeutic agents.
Ali was Chair of the RSC's Chemical Biology and Bioorganic Group (2012-2015), and an elected member of the RSC's Chemistry and Biology Interface Division council (2012-2016). Ali has won a number of awards during his career, including the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences' medal for European Young Chemist (in 2008).
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland