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Areas
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About

Our laboratory focuses on chemical biology approaches at a basic research level to identify and understand new biological mechanisms. We also concentrate on harnessing medicinal chemistry methods to target biological processes with the aim to develop new small molecules therapeutics.

We have strong collaborations with researchers both within our institute and externally, across a variety of disciplines, including:
– high throughput screening
– structural biology
– parasitology
– oncology

Our team works closely with industry partners in several drug discovery programs dedicated to developing new therapeutics in the cancer and infectious disease fields.

Our laboratory has interests in:
– Design of small molecule inhibitors of aspartyl proteases to understand their role in the malaria and cryptosporidiosis.
– Design of small molecules to target SH2 domain proteins to investigate their role in inflammation and cancer.
– Identification of the mechanism of action of small molecule antimalarials currently under optimisation in our laboratory.
– Development of small molecule therapies to treat human and animal helminthiasis.

Publications

Selected publications from Dr Brad Sleebs

Ashton TD, Calic PPS, Dans MG, Ooi ZK, Zhou Q, Loi K, Jarman KE, Palandri J, Qiu D, Lehane AM, Maity B, De N, Famodimu MT, Delves MJ, Mao EY, Gancheva MR, Wilson DW, Chowdury M, de Koning‐Ward TF, Baud D, Brand S, Jackson PF, Cowman AF, Sleebs BE. Lactam Truncation Yields a Dihydroquinazolinone Scaffold with Potent Antimalarial Activity that Targets PfATP4. ChemMedChem. 2024;19(24):10.1002/cmdc.202400549

Awalt JK, Su W, Nguyen W, Loi K, Jarman KE, Penington JS, Ramesh S, Fairhurst KJ, Yeo T, Park H, Uhlemann A-C, Maity BC, De N, Mukherjee P, Chakraborty A, Churchyard A, Famodimu MT, Delves MJ, Baum J, Mittal N, Winzeler EA, Papenfuss AT, Chowdury M, de Koning-Ward TF, Maier AG, van Dooren GG, Baud D, Brand S, Fidock DA, Jackson PF, Cowman AF, Dans MG, Sleebs BE. Exploration and characterization of the antimalarial activity of cyclopropyl carboxamides that target the mitochondrial protein, cytochrome b. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 2024;280:10.1016/j.ejmech.2024.116921

Duffy S, Sleebs BE, Avery VM. An adaptable, fit-for-purpose screening approach with high-throughput capability to determine speed of action and stage specificity of anti-malarial compounds. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 2024;68(10):10.1128/aac.00746-24

Calic PPS, Ashton TD, Mansouri M, Loi K, Jarman KE, Qiu D, Lehane AM, Roy S, Rao GP, Maity B, Wittlin S, Crespo B, Gamo F-J, Deni I, Fidock DA, Chowdury M, de Koning-Ward TF, Cowman AF, Jackson PF, Baud D, Brand S, Laleu B, Sleebs BE. Optimization of pyrazolopyridine 4-carboxamides with potent antimalarial activity for which resistance is associated with the P. falciparum transporter ABCI3. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 2024;276:10.1016/j.ejmech.2024.116677

Dans MG, Boulet C, Watson GM, Nguyen W, Dziekan JM, Evelyn C, Reaksudsan K, Mehra S, Razook Z, Geoghegan ND, Mlodzianoski MJ, Goodman CD, Ling DB, Jonsdottir TK, Tong J, Famodimu MT, Kristan M, Pollard H, Stewart LB, Brandner-Garrod L, Sutherland CJ, Delves MJ, McFadden GI, Barry AE, Crabb BS, de Koning-Ward TF, Rogers KL, Cowman AF, Tham W-H, Sleebs BE, Gilson PR. Author Correction: Aryl amino acetamides prevent Plasmodium falciparum ring development via targeting the lipid-transfer protein PfSTART1. Nature Communications. 2024;15(1):10.1038/s41467-024-52849-7

Ashton TD, Calic PPS, Dans MG, Ooi ZK, Zhou Q, Palandri J, Loi K, Jarman KE, Qiu D, Lehane AM, Maity BC, De N, Giannangelo C, MacRaild CA, Creek DJ, Mao EY, Gancheva MR, Wilson DW, Chowdury M, de Koning-Ward TF, Famodimu MT, Delves MJ, Pollard H, Sutherland CJ, Baud D, Brand S, Jackson PF, Cowman AF, Sleebs BE. Property and Activity Refinement of Dihydroquinazolinone-3-carboxamides as Orally Efficacious Antimalarials that Target PfATP4. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 2024;67(16):10.1021/acs.jmedchem.4c01241

Shanley HT, Taki AC, Nguyen N, Wang T, Byrne JJ, Ang C-S, Leeming MG, Williamson N, Chang BCH, Jabbar A, Sleebs BE, Gasser RB. Comparative structure activity and target exploration of 1,2-diphenylethynes in Haemonchus contortus and Caenorhabditis elegans. International Journal for Parasitology Drugs and Drug Resistance. 2024;25:10.1016/j.ijpddr.2024.100534

Dans MG, Boulet C, Watson GM, Nguyen W, Dziekan JM, Evelyn C, Reaksudsan K, Mehra S, Razook Z, Geoghegan ND, Mlodzianoski MJ, Goodman CD, Ling DB, Jonsdottir TK, Tong J, Famodimu MT, Kristan M, Pollard H, Stewart LB, Brandner-Garrod L, Sutherland CJ, Delves MJ, McFadden GI, Barry AE, Crabb BS, de Koning-Ward TF, Rogers KL, Cowman AF, Tham W-H, Sleebs BE, Gilson PR. Aryl amino acetamides prevent Plasmodium falciparum ring development via targeting the lipid-transfer protein PfSTART1. Nature Communications. 2024;15(1):10.1038/s41467-024-49491-8

Nguyen W, Boulet C, Dans MG, Loi K, Jarman KE, Watson GM, Tham W-H, Fairhurst KJ, Yeo T, Fidock DA, Wittlin S, Chowdury M, de Koning-Ward TF, Chen G, Yan D, Charman SA, Baud D, Brand S, Jackson PF, Cowman AF, Gilson PR, Sleebs BE. Activity refinement of aryl amino acetamides that target the P. falciparum STAR-related lipid transfer 1 protein. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 2024;270:10.1016/j.ejmech.2024.116354

Shanley HT, Taki AC, Nguyen N, Wang T, Byrne JJ, Ang C-S, Leeming MG, Nie S, Williamson N, Zheng Y, Young ND, Korhonen PK, Hofmann A, Chang BCH, Wells TNC, Häberli C, Keiser J, Jabbar A, Sleebs BE, Gasser RB. Structure-activity relationship and target investigation of 2-aryl quinolines with nematocidal activity. International Journal for Parasitology Drugs and Drug Resistance. 2024;24:10.1016/j.ijpddr.2024.100522

Lab research projects

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