Degree(s)

MChem in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry (2012), University of St Andrews
DPhil in Chemical Biology (2017), University of Oxford

Staff email

d.l.zollman@dundee.ac.uk

Profile

David’s first foray into the field of structural biology took place under Professor Jim Naismith during his master’s degree in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry at the University of St Andrews. His MChem research project centred on the use of X-ray crystallography to charactarise various members of a group of proteins responsible for the biosynthesis of cyanobactins. David conducted his doctorate in Chemical Biology in the research group of Professor Chris Schofield at the University of Oxford, during which he turned his attention to the nucleosome and the transcription factors responsible for modulating gene expression, employing a range of structural (X-ray crystallography, SAXS, non-denaturing mass spectrometry) and biophysical (AlphaScreen, ITC) techniques. David continued his biophysical studies on transcription factors during a post-doctoral placement with Dr Akane Kawamura, again in the University of Oxford, before returning to the north to join the Ciulli group and the exciting world of PROTACs.

Between mid-2018 and mid-2021 David was the Dundee structural biology and biophysics lead for the drug discovery collaboration between the Ciulli group and Boehringer Ingelheim, helping to drive compound optimisation of PROTAC drug targets by biophysically characterising compound series and structurally enabling lead molecules. David then defected to a new drug discovery collaboration between the Ciulli group and Almirall where he currently leads a team of multidisciplinary scientists attempting to use PROTAC modalities to target proteins relevant to skin disease.

In his spare time David enjoys playing badminton and pool, and has a keen interest in both the consumption and production of film, having (perhaps misguidedly) written and produced “Canary”, a feature length dystopian comedy during the final year of his DPhil.