Prof. Angela Russell

Professor of Medicinal Chemistry

Professor Angela Russell gained her Medicinal Chemistry degree from Oxford in 2000 and her DPhil in Organic Chemistry in 2004. In 2007 she was awarded a prestigious Research Councils UK Fellowship in Medicinal Chemistry, and in 2018, she was conferred Professor of Medicinal Chemistry. She holds a joint appointment between the Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacology. As well as teaching commitments within these departments, she is also a member of and contributes to the Oxford Stem Cell Institute (OSCI), the British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence (BHF CRE), and the Cancer Research UK Oxford Centre – supporting at all levels including research and training.

Professor Russell co-founded Oxford spin-out MuOx Ltd (acquired by Summit plc in November 2013) to develop new small molecule utrophin modulators for DMD therapy, and OxStem Ltd, a company to translate research findings in small molecule manipulation of stem cells for regenerative medicine. Most recently, OxStem Ltd raised a record £16.9M to identify new classes of drugs that can re-programme or stimulate existing endogenous cells to repair tissues in age-related conditions, including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and heart failure.

Angela has initiated several collaborative research programmes, including a medicinal chemistry approach to the modulation of gene expression to treat fatal rare genetic diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). In October 2020, she was awarded a 2021 Harrington UK Rare Disease scholarship in recognition of and supporting her work on developing a therapy for DMD.

She has published over 100 original articles, book chapters and patent applications.