RPS Pharma Scene #23 - A career in industry and research
With Professor Miraz Rahman
In episode 23 of our Pharma Scene podcast, RPS Chief Scientist Parastou Donyai talks to Miraz Rahman, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at King’s College London.
They discuss his pharmacy studies, which began in Bangladesh, and his experiences working in the pharmaceutical industry there. Since then, he has made a name for himself in the UK, and is a well-known figure in industry, with several patents and start-ups to his name, as well as a highly respected name in pharmaceutical research.
Miraz recalls how moving to the UK with a young family wasn't always easy, but he made it work.
Download a transcript of this podcast
About Miraz
Miraz Rahman is a Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in the School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences at King’s College, London.
He completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Pharmacy at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka in 1997 and 1999, respectively, after which he gained valuable experience by working in the pharmaceutical industry for three years.
Seeking to expand his expertise, he returned to academia and pursued his Ph.D. in synthetic medicinal chemistry in 2008 at the School of Pharmacy, which is now known as UCL School of Pharmacy. His research activities focus on the application of advanced computational chemistry, synthetic medicinal chemistry, and chemical biology techniques to the design, synthesis, and evaluation of novel drug-like chemical scaffolds as anticancer and antimicrobial agents.
He joined King’s College London in 2012 and currently holds the position of Chair in Medicinal Chemistry and Antimicrobial Research Theme Lead at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science. He also serves as the Director of the MRC DTP iCASE Programme, which is one of the largest UKRI-funded industrial PhD programmes in the UK.
His research group has invented new classes of efflux-resistant antibiotics and antifungal agents that are currently being commercialized. Professor Rahman has experience in both early and late-stage drug discovery and translational research.
He has co-founded oncology biotech Transcriptogen Ltd, antibody drug conjugate (ADC) biotech Pheon Therapeutics, and the antibiotic company Necobiotix Ltd.