CURRICULUM VITAE
Oliver Thorn-Seshold
Address
Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
Department of Pharmacy
Butenandtstr. 5–13
81377 Munich, Germany
Tel: +49 (0)89 2180 – 77232
Fax: +49 (0)89 2180 – 77247
eMail: [email protected]
Personal Data
Date of Birth
5 June 1985, Sydney
Citizenships
Australian, Swedish and British
Languages
English, French and Swedish (fluent); German (intermediate); Italian (basic)
Professional Experience
Since 2016
Junior Group Leader, LMU Munich
Research axes: (1) optical targeting of microtubule and topoisomerase inhibitors and DNA lesion
agents; (2) redox sensors and prodrugs; (3) pharmacogenic prodrugs.
2013 – 2016
Postdoc, LMU Munich
Independently conceived and led project PhotoCan: Light-controllable chemotherapeutics. 1 paper
in Cell (senior corresponding author; 3 in prep), 1 patent (2 in prep). (Advisor: Prof. Dirk Trauner)
Education
2009 – 2013
PhD, Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, France
Organic synthesis and chemical biology (Advisor: Prof. J. Hasserodt)
2007 – 2009
Master of Science
Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, France (bioorganic chemistry, Prof. J. Hasserodt) and
University of Sydney (physical-theoretical chemistry, Prof. R.G. Gilbert and Prof. A. Gray-Weale)
2004 – 2006
Bachelor of Science
University of Sydney, Australia and Gothenburg University, Sweden (double major in chemistry)
2002 – 2003
International Chemistry Olympiads
Australian team member at the 34th and 35th Olympiads; Bronze (2002) and Silver (2003) medals
1998 – 2003
Sydney Grammar School
After-hours inorganic chemistry research with Dr. M.M. Bishop (2000-2002) leading to first papers
http://www.cup.lmu.de/ph/aks/thornseshold ; [email protected]
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Awards and Fellowships
2015
Merck Serono medicinal chemistry Innovation Cup winner
2015
Talk Prize, French National Microtubule Conference
2015
Talk Prize, RSC Challenges in Chemical Biology Conference
2009 – 2012
French Research Ministry PhD Scholarship with Teaching Fellowship
2008 – 2009
Ampere Masters Scholarship
2007
Edna Maude Goulston prize for Organic Chemistry Honours
2006
Walter Burfitt Chemistry Scholarship N° 1, Hush Prize for Theoretical Chemistry
2006
Royal Australian Chemical Institute’s Student Chemistry Prize
2004 – 2007
University of Sydney Scholarship with Merit
2002 – 2003
Silver & Bronze medals, International Chemistry Olympiads (Athens, Groningen)
Funding
2017 – 2019
BMWi EXIST grant: Photopharmaceuticals for Cancer Treatment, 1.3M€
Since 2017
SFB1032: Nanoagents for Spatiotemporal Control
2016 – 2017
BMBF Biotechnologie grant: Vascular-based Tumour Targeting of Nanoparticles
2016
Centre for Nanoscience: Temporal Selectivity Filters for Antimitotic Targeting
2012 – 2013
French Academic Research Council, ENSLFR, & CLARA grants: PhotoCan project
Supervision
Since 2014
6 Master and 6 Bachelor students, from the Departments of Chemistry, Biology,
and Pharmacy (LMU Munich)
2010 – 2012
2 Master and 1 Bachelor students, Department of Chemistry (ENS Lyon)
Collaborations
P. Paulitschke
Temporal Selectivity in Antimitotic Targeting;
Faculty of Physics, LMU Munich, Germany
A. Vollmar, S. Zahler
Photoswitchable Cytoskeleton Inhibitors;
Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, LMU Munich, Germany
M. Delattre and
W. Nahaboo
Dynamic modulation of C. elegans and mouse embryonic development
Dept. Biology, ENS Lyon, France; Dept. Mol. Biol., Uni. Brussels, Belgium
Reagent Development As of 2016, photoswitchable microtubule inhibitor reagents developed in
the PhotoCan project are in use by over 50 research groups from cell
biology, neurology, and tumour chemotherapy.
http://www.cup.lmu.de/ph/aks/thornseshold ; [email protected]
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Research Interests
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Developing molecular targeting methods (spatial, temporal, biochemical) for novel reagents
Designing modular chemical strategies for bio-activated probes & prodrugs against cancer
Improving our understanding of cellular redox processes, especially in cancer
DNA alkylators, microtubule inhibitors, topoisomerase poisons
Covalent inhibitors of protein function
Fluorescence, FRET, photoreactivity, and their use in chemical biology reagents
Personal Interests
Chamber music (cello player) and classical music in general; hiking tours; literature
Publications / Patents
[8]
M Borowiak, et al., D Trauner*, O Thorn-Seshold*; Photoswitchable Inhibitors of
Microtubule Dynamics Optically Control Mitosis and Cell Death. Cell 2015, 162, 403.
[7]
O Thorn-Seshold*, M Borowiak, D Trauner, J Hasserodt; Azoaryls as Reversibly
Modulatable Tubulin Inhibitors. WO2015166295, 2014.
[6]
O Thorn-Seshold, M Vargas-Sanchez, S McKeon, J Hasserodt; A Robust, High-Sensitivity
Stealth Probe for Peptidases. Chem. Comm. 2012, 48, 6253.
[5]
J Hasserodt, O Thorn-Seshold; Fluorogenic Peptidase Substrate (WO2013045854), 2011.
[4]
D Konkolewicz, O Thorn-Seshold and A Gray-Weale; Models for randomly hyperbranched
polymers: Theory and simulation. J. Chem. Phys. 2008, 129, (5).
[3]
MM Bishop, LF Lindoy, M McPartlin, A Parkin, O Thorn-Seshold, P Turner; A systematic
study of ligand intermolecular interactions in crystals of copper(II) complexes of bidentate
guanidino derivatives. Polyhedron 2007, 26, (2), 415.
[2]
MM Bishop, SJ Coles, A Lee, LF Lindoy, A Parkin, O Thorn-Seshold, P Turner; A Structural
Study of Tautomerism and Hydrogen-Bonding in Supramolecular Assemblies. Supramol.
Chem. 2005, 17, (7), 567.·
[1]
MM Bishop, LF Lindoy, O Thorn-Seshold, RO Piltz, P Turner; A Supramolecular Assembly
Containing an Unusually Short N-H···N Hydrogen Bond. J. Het. Chem. 2001, 38, (6), 1377.
[in patenting] Photoisomerisable Cytotoxin (PCT2016)
[in patenting] High-Potency Azoaryl Cytotoxin
[in prep] Structure-Photo-Activity Relationships of azobenzenoid colchicine-site inhibitors (2016)
[in prep] Photoswitchable Inhibitors of Actin Polymerisation (2016)
[in prep] Photoisomerisable Cytotoxins 2 (2017)
[in prep] High-Potency Azoaryl Cytotoxins (2017)
http://www.cup.lmu.de/ph/aks/thornseshold ; [email protected]
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Presentations
2016-09: Talk, Leibniz Institute Bioorganic Chemistry conference, Jena, DE
2016-06: Talk, EMBL Microtubule conference, EMBL, DE
2016-03: GDCh Pharmaceutical Chemistry Conference, Bonn, DE
2015-09: Closing Talk, Cancer Research Centre CRCL conference, Lyon, FR
2015-07: Talk, French National Microtubule conference, Grenoble, FR
2015-06: Tetrahedron Symposium, Berlin, DE
2015-06: GRC Bioorganic Chemistry, New Hampshire USA
2015-06: Talk, RSC Challenges in Chemical Biology conference, ETH Zurich, CH
2015-06: Seminar, Harvard Medical School, USA; org. T. Mitchison
2015-02: SFB ‘Nanoagents and Spatiotemporal Control’, DE
2015-01: Seminar, Rijksuniversitet Groningen, NL; org. B. Feringa
2014-09: Talk slot, Beilstein Symposium on Molecular Switches, DE
2014-09: French Regional Health Research conf, Lyon, FR
2014-05: Talk slot, Austrian Institute of Science seminar, AT; org. M. Sixt
2014-02: Talk slot, SFB ‘Nanoagents and Spatiotemporal Control’, DE
http://www.cup.lmu.de/ph/aks/thornseshold ; [email protected]
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