Chemical Biology and Synthetic Tool Development

The research in Mads Hartvig Clausen’s group focuses on chemical biology, using synthetic chemistry to develop tool compounds that address key biological questions. This overall research theme manifests in several focus areas, including synthetic methodology, medicinal chemistry, and molecular design. The aim here is to create small-molecule libraries, prodrugs, biologically active compounds, drug delivery strategies, vaccine development, and studies of complex biomolecules such as plant cell wall polysaccharides. We are part of the Chemical Biology unit of Organic Chemistry.

Research

Our research activities include the synthesis of oligosaccharides related to plant cell wall glycans, which are used to characterize monoclonal antibodies and enzymes. We also design and synthesize shape-diverse, sp3-rich high-throughput screening (HTS) compounds and fragments, enabling exploration of chemical space for drug discovery.

A further focus is the development of prodrugs activated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) for targeted treatment of inflammatory diseases. Furthermore, in combining synthetic design with biological evaluation, we contribute to carbohydrate-based vaccine development.

Vacancies

All positions will be announced here

Group members