Dr John Woodland

John supports the work at the H3D Centre by contributing to chemical biology and medicinal chemistry aspects of malaria drug discovery projects, supervising postgraduate students in Professor Kelly Chibale’s academic research group, and supporting H3D’s capacity building initiatives.

After obtaining his PhD in chemistry from UCT in 2016, John spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at UCT investigating the intersection of HIV, hormonal contraceptives and antiretrovirals. This was followed by a second postdoctoral fellowship as a medicinal chemist at H3D, designing and synthesising potential drug leads for malaria. Since then, and under the mentorship of Professor Chibale, John has extended his interests in the development of molecular treatments and tools to tackle the scourge of infectious disease. Active research projects include mode-of-action studies and target deconvolution of hit compounds active against the human malaria parasite (Plasmodium falciparum), the medicinal chemistry optimisation of noncovalent and covalent inhibitors of Plasmodium kinases, and the integration of machine learning into workflows at H3D to reduce compound attrition. John is also a Fellow of the UCT Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM).

Apart from his research activities, John is passionate about promoting science and improving scientific literacy in South Africa. He is also active as a musician in Cape Town and plays the organ, directs his own choral group, and presents weekly broadcasts on a local radio station Fine Music Radio.