What's really inside your medicine cabinet? | Christchurch

Ever wondered how we go from the chemicals in a laboratory to the medicines in your home? Are these drugs discovered by accident or does research inform intelligent design?

From the earliest medicines, which consisted simply of exploiting the chemical elements—sulphur for wounds, lithium for bipolar disorders and magnesium for digestion—today’s pharmaceuticals involve carefully disguising active ingredients, as well as a greater understanding of routes into living cells.

With examples from her leading-edge research group, Carol will illustrate the novel approaches being developed to try to win the battle against disease-inducing pathogens, but also to understand the problems of addiction in the treatment of pain.

About the speaker:

Dame Carol Robinson FRS FMedSci
Professor of Chemistry, University of Oxford (UK)

Carol is a chemist who has pioneered the application of mass spectrometry techniques to problems in chemical biology. Her groundbreaking research on the three-dimensional structure of proteins in particular has demonstrated the power of such techniques in studying large molecular compounds.

The first female Professor of Chemistry at both Oxford and Cambridge universities, in 2013 she was awarded the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to science. Carol was also the recipient of the Royal Society’s prestigious Rosalind Franklin Award and Davey Medal, in 2004 and 2010, respectively. In 2015, she was the European Laureate of the L’Oreal–UNESCO for Women in Science Award.

FREE Public Admission

Please ensure your seat(s) by registering.

Presented by University of Canterbury Biomolecular Interaction Centre and The University of Auckland Faculty of Science and School of Biological Sciences in partnership with Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Views that are expressed at these events may not reflect those of Royal Society Te Apārangi.