It was a choice between rock 'n' roll and science, but a high school chemistry teacher inspired Arthur Christopoulos to pursue a career in research. "He wasn't just there to teach, he was enthralled by the subject matter and that's stayed with me ever since," he says.
Music remains a passion, but Christopoulos is well on his way to becoming a superstar in his chosen field of pharmacology. In recent years, his research team has made major breakthroughs that promise to minimise the side effects caused by therapeutic drugs.
Their studies focus on G-protein-coupled receptors, a family of proteins involved in almost every physiological process, and the most common drug targets for the pharmaceutical industry.
The problem with most drugs is that they bind to these proteins at sites that are shared by non-target proteins. So while they produce the desired therapeutic effect, they also cause undesirable side effects. And as Christopoulos points out, "in many diseases the side effects are just as bad as the thing you're trying to treat".
By locating more specific sites on target proteins, and designing molecules that bind only to these sites, Christopoulos and his team are markedly improving drug selectivity.
Treatments for schizophrenia are one example. Most antipsychotic drugs on the market are what Christopoulos refers to as 'dirty drugs': they bind to targets on proteins all over the body. Now his team has discovered a molecule that binds to sites found only in the brain proteins requiring treatment, with potential to dramatically reduce side effects.
Christopoulos' fresh approach to drug discovery has created a buzz in his field, with major pharmaceutical companies investing heavily in programs that use his methods.
His ultimate goal? "I'd like to see far more effective therapeutics than the dirty drugs we have now," says Christopoulos. "Discovering a drug that will touch so many people's lives is the best reward you could hope for."
