Currently, we are a team of two postdoctoral researchers and nine PhD students. Supervision is led by Professor Billy Kerr, Dr Dave Lindsay and Dr Laura Paterson.
Dr Dave Lindsay
Dave studied chemistry at the University of Strathclyde and obtained his PhD (1999) in organic chemistry with Prof Billy Kerr. Dave carried out postdoctoral studies in Munich with Prof Dr Paul Knochel and then at the University of Bristol with Prof Tim Gallagher. Dave continued his academic career with positions at the Universities of Bristol, Reading and Glasgow, and is currently a Lecturer at Strathclyde.
Dr Laura Paterson
Laura studied chemistry at the University of Strathclyde and obtained her PhD (2011) in organic chemistry with Prof Billy Kerr. After a 1-year postdoctoral stay in the group of Prof J. S. Clark at the University of Glasgow working on a total synthesis project, she returned to Strathclyde as the Manager of the Collaborative GSK Research Programmes and Research Administrator in the Kerr team.
Dr Liam Donnelly
Liam completed his PhD in 2021 in organometallic chemistry and catalysis at the University of Edinburgh working under the supervision of Prof. Jason Love and Dr Stephen Thomas. This was followed by a 1-year postdoctoral position with Dr Thibault Cantat at CEA Saclay. He is now a PDRA in the Kerr Group working on the identification and deployment of sustainable solvents in medicines manufacture. Outside of chemistry Liam enjoys hiking, running and trying out new restaurants in Glasgow.
Dr Nathan Knight
Nathan completed his PhD with our group in 2022 investigating iridium-catalysed hydrogen isotope exchange on compounds of pharmaceutical importance. He joined our team following his MChem in Chemistry at the University of York, where he spent his Final Year of study in industry at Sygnature Discovery working on the synthesis of novel sp3 scaffolds. He is now a PDRA and continues to work in the area of iridium catalysis.
Andrew Dalgleish
Andrew joined the team following his MChem degree at the University of Strathclyde in 2019. During his undergraduate degree, he completed an industrial placement year at AstraZeneca working on the process chemistry of Ceralasertib. Andrew is now in his Final Year of PhD studies, which are collaborative with AstraZeneca, and he is currently developing iridium-catalysed hydrogen isotope exchange reactions of N-heterocycles, with a future focus on labelling oligonucleotides.
Megan Cuthbert
Megan is currently in her Final Year of PhD studies at the University of Strathclyde having also completed her MChem degree here in Chemistry with Drug Discovery. Her PhD studies are in collaboration with Merck USA and are centred on iridium-catalysed sp3 hydrogen isotope exchange of amino acids and peptides, in particular, focusing on beta amino acid motifs. In her free time, Megan enjoys socialising with friends and family, as well as travelling and exploring new places.
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Paul Mulrainey
Paul is a Final Year PhD student who joined the group in 2019 after completing his MChem in Chemistry with Drug Discovery at the University of Strathclyde. His PhD project work focuses on utilising informatics to help design enhanced iridium(I) catalysts for C-C bond forming processes. Outside of his PhD studies, Paul enjoys socialising with his friends, watching football, practicing karate and playing golf (when the Scottish weather permits). dfkjdkfjkdsjfjskldjfkljsdkjfklsjdkfjksljdfkljskldjfklsjdklfjskljdkljfklsjlkdfjskldfjklsdjfkljskljfdkljflksjdklfjskljdkljfklsjdklfjkdjfsdkfjlkdsfjksldjfklsjdfkljsdklfjlksjdflkdjlkjsflkjskljdfklsjfklsjskdljfklsjklfjlkdj.djfhdjkhfkjdsj
Aidan McKeown
Aidan completed his undergraduate MChem degree in 2019 at the University of Strathclyde where he studied Chemistry with Drug Discovery. He joined our research team in 2020 and is currently working on the development of iridium catalysts for hydrogenation. Outside the world of chemistry, his passion lies with football. Otherwise, he likes to keep an all-round sociable lifestyle, playing golf or going hill walking (when it’s not raining).
Elliot Davenport
Elliot joined us following his MChem degree at The University of Edinburgh. During his undergraduate studies, he spent a year with the Elena Fernandez group in Tarragona working on transition metal-free borylation, followed by a Final Year project with Prof. Andrew Lawrence focusing on natural product total synthesis. Elliot is now a Final Year PhD student, based at GSK in Stevenage, as part of the Strathclyde-GSK Collaborative Industrial PhD Programme. His project focuses on the development of late-stage methylation methodologies for the introduction of isotopic labels. Outside of the lab, Elliot enjoys watching and playing rugby, beer, and food.
Blair Smith
Blair obtained his MChem in Chemistry degree from the University of Strathclyde in 2020, with his Final Year research project based within the Kerr group and working on hydrogen isotope exchange reactions. Blair is now a 3rd Year PhD student and his research is currently focused on iridium-catalysed etherification processes. Out with the lab, Blair is passionate about football, regularly attending matches when he can, and has recently tried his hand at golf, which is still very much work in progress.
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Tom Fleetwood
Tom is a 3rd Year student, based at GSK in Stevenage, as part of the Strathclyde-GSK Collaborative Industrial PhD Programme. He joined our team following his MChem in Chemistry degree at the University of York, where he spent his Final Year within industry within the medicinal chemistry team at GSK. Tom’s current research is focused on the development of enantioselective trifluoromethylation reactions. Tom is originally from Barnsley, South Yorkshire and one of his main hobbies is following football – he is a big Barnsley FC fan and makes sure he watches every game when he can!
David Fernandez Aguado
David is a 3rd Year student as part of the Strathclyde-GSK Collaborative Industrial PhD Programme. He joined our team following a BSc in Chemistry degree at the Complutense University of Madrid and an MSc in Synthetic Chemistry working on asymmetric catalysis. His PhD project focuses on the development of novel sp3-sp3 cross-coupling reactions. David’s main hobbies and interests are hiking and travelling, including volunteering and community involvement, and he also loves music, especially rock: Pink Floyd, Queen or The Doors.
Liam Raeside
Liam is in the 1st year of his PhD studies having completed his MChem in Chemistry with Drug Discovery degree in 2022 at Strathclyde. During the final year of his undergraduate degree, Liam carried out research in our group which focused on the iridium-catalysed hydrogen isotope exchange of dipeptides. Liam’s PhD work will now explore new, complementary methods for the directed meta-labelling of arenes with deuterium using iridium catalysis. Outside of his PhD studies Liam enjoys running, socialising, and travelling.
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