
Dr Cecilia Russell
Research Associate
School of Environmental and Life Sciences
- Email:cecilia.russell@newcastle.edu.au
- Phone:(02) 49218711
Career Summary
Biography
After receiving undergraduate and PhD qualifications from The University of Newcastle, Cecilia worked in industry in the field of veterinary pharmaceuticals, involving large scale active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) synthesis, working with in a regulated (GLP and GMP) environment, and setting up a laboratory to be able to undertake in-house residue studies.
From 2011 Cecilia has been employed as a post-doctoral researcher in Prof. Adam McCluskey's laboratory at the University of Newcastle in a part-time role, while balancing primary caring duties for two children.
Additionally from semester 1 2018, Cecilia has been engaged in casual academic teaching, covering both long service leave and parental leave.
The primary focus of Cecilia's research is within the field of medicinal chemistry, where the key aim is the development of tool compounds and drugs targeting endocytosis. This process is focused around the development of inhibitors of dynamin GTPase, this protein has been identified as having roles in epilepsy, cancer and neuropathic pain.
Additional areas of research are the development of small compounds as potential new antibiotics with scaffolds that differ from the current compounds in the clinic where the development of resistance is an increasing concern; and the utilisation of flow chemistry instrumentation to stream line the drug discovery and development process.
Qualifications
- PhD (Chemistry), University of Newcastle
- Bachelor of Science (Honours), University of Newcastle
- Bachelor of Science, University of Newcastle
Keywords
- analytical chemistry
- compound purification
- medicinal chemistry
- organic synthesis
- quality assurance and control
Professional Experience
UON Appointment
Title | Organisation / Department |
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Research Associate | University of Newcastle School of Environmental and Life Sciences Australia |
Research Associate | University of Newcastle School of Environmental and Life Sciences Australia |
Casual Academic | University of Newcastle School of Environmental and Life Sciences Australia |
Casual Academic | University of Newcastle School of Environmental and Life Sciences Australia |
Teaching
Code | Course | Role | Duration |
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CHEM3550 |
Medicinal and Biological Chemistry Discipline of Chemistry, University of Newcastle |
Lecturer, tutor, lab demonstrator | 19/6/2018 - 30/11/2018 |
CHEM2310 |
Organic Chemistry Discipline of Chemistry, University of Newcastle |
Lecturer, tutor, lab demonstrator | 27/2/2018 - 21/6/2019 |
CHEM3310 |
Molecular Organic Synthesis Discipline of Chemistry, University of Newcastle |
Lecturer, tutor, lab demonstrator | 27/2/2018 - 21/6/2019 |
PHAR2202 |
Drug Design and Discovery Discipline of Chemistry, University of Newcastle |
Lecturer, tutor, lab demonstrator | 19/6/2018 - 30/11/2018 |
CHEM2201 |
Analytical and Medicinal Chemistry Discipline of Chemistry, University of Newcastle |
Course coordinator, lecturer, tutor, lab demonstrator | 19/6/2018 - 30/11/2018 |
CHEM3590 |
Chemistry Research Project Discipline of Chemistry, University of Newcastle |
Supervisor | 11/6/2019 - 22/11/2019 |
Publications
For publications that are currently unpublished or in-press, details are shown in italics.
Chapter (1 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | |||||
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2017 |
Russell C, Baker JR, Cossar P, McCluskey A, 'Recent Developments in the Use of Flow Hydrogenation in the Field of Medicinal Chemistry', New Advances in Hydrogenation Processes - Fundamentals and Applications, InTech, London (2017)
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Journal article (18 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | ||||||||
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2020 |
Baker JR, Russell CC, Gilbert J, Sakoff JA, McCluskey A, 'Amino Alcohol Acrylonitriles as Activators of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Pathway: An Unexpected MTT Phenotypic Screening Outcome', ChemMedChem, 15 490-505 (2020) [C1]
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2020 |
Alteen MG, Gros C, Meek RW, Cardoso DA, Busmann JA, Sangouard G, et al., 'A Direct Fluorescent Activity Assay for Glycosyltransferases Enables Convenient High-Throughput Screening: Application to O-GlcNAc Transferase', Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 59 9601-9609 (2020) [C1]
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2020 |
Pi H, Hang TN, Venter H, Boileau AR, Woolford L, Garg S, et al., 'In vitroActivity of Robenidine Analog NCL195 in Combination With Outer Membrane Permeabilizers Against Gram-Negative Bacterial Pathogens and Impact on Systemic Gram-Positive Bacterial Infection in Mice', Frontiers in Microbiology, 11 (2020) [C1]
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2020 |
Sun J, Russell CC, Scarlett CJ, McCluskey A, 'Small molecule inhibitors in pancreatic cancer', RSC MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY, 11 164-183 (2020) [C1]
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2019 |
Al Otaibi A, Deane FM, Russell CC, Hizartzidis L, McCluskey SN, Sakoff JA, McCluskey A, 'A methanol and protic ionic liquid Ugi multicomponent reaction path to cytotoxic a-phenylacetamido amides', RSC Advances, 9 7652-7663 (2019) [C1]
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2019 |
Russell CC, Stevens A, Young KA, Baker JR, McCluskey SN, Khazandi M, et al., 'Discovery of 4,6-bis(2-((E)-benzylidene)hydrazinyl)pyrimidin-2-Amine with Antibiotic Activity.', ChemistryOpen, 8 896-907 (2019) [C1]
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2018 |
Cossar PJ, Russell CC, McCluskey SN, Pope D, Bernhardt PV, McCluskey A, 'Crystal Structure of Ethyl 2,4-Dimethyl-1-phenyl-6-thioxo-1,6-dihydropyrimidine-5-carboxylate: The Product from the Reaction of Ethyl 3-Aminocrotonate, Phenylisothiocyanate and Acetic Anhydride', JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, 48 91-95 (2018) [C1]
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2018 |
Ghods A, Gilbert J, Baker JR, Russell CC, Sakoff JA, McCluskey A, 'A focused library synthesis and cytotoxicity of quinones derived from the natural product bolinaquinone', Royal Society Open Science, 5 (2018) [C1] © 2018 The Authors. Bolinaquinone is a natural product that is a structurally complex, cytotoxic sesquiterpene quinone. A scaffold simplification and focused library approach usin... [more] © 2018 The Authors. Bolinaquinone is a natural product that is a structurally complex, cytotoxic sesquiterpene quinone. A scaffold simplification and focused library approach using a microwave-assisted Suzuki coupling gave 32 bolinaquinone analogues with good-to-excellent cytotoxicity profiles. Mono-arylbenzoquinones, Library A, were preferentially toxic towards BE2-C (neuroblastoma) cells with growth inhibition (GI50) values of 4¿12 µM; only the 3,4-dimethoxyphenyl 23 and 3-biphenyl 28 variants were broad-spectrum active¿HT29 (colon carcinoma), U87 and SJ-G2 (glioblastoma), MCF-7 (breast carcinoma), A2780 (ovarian carcinoma), H460 (lung carcinoma), A431 (skin carcinoma), Du145 (prostate carcinoma), BE2-C (neuroblastoma), MIA (pancreatic carcinoma) and SMA (spontaneous murine astrocytoma). Library B with a second aryl moiety exhibited broad-spectrum cytotoxicity with MCF-7 cells¿ GI50 values of 5.6 ± 0.7 and 5.1 ± 0.5 µM for 2,5-dimethoxy-3-(naphthalene-1-yl)-6-(naphthalene-3-yl) 33 and 2,5-dimethoxy-3-(biaryl-2-yl)-6-(naphthalene-3-yl) 36, respectively. Similar potencies were also noted with 2,5-dimethoxy-3,6-diphenyl 30 against A2780 (GI50 = 5.9 ± 0.0 µM) and with 2,5-dimethoxy-3-(biaryl-3-yl)-6-(naphthalene-3-yl) 37 against HT29 (GI50 = 5.4 ± 0.4 µM), while the 3,4-dimethoxy mono-aryl analogue 23 exhibited good levels of activity against A2780 (GI50 = 3.8 ± 0.75 µM), the neuroblastoma cell line BE2-C (GI50 = 3 ± 0.35 µM) and SMA (GI50 = 3.9 ± 0.54 µM). Introduction of the amino-substituted Library C gave 2-(naphthalen-1-yl)-5-(naphthalen-3-yl)-3,6-bis(propylamino) 43, with excellent activity against HT29 (0.08 ± 0.0 µM), MCF-7 (0.17 ± 0.1 µM), A2780 (0.14 ± 0.1 µM), A431 (0.11 ± 0.0 µM), Du145 (0.16 ± 0.1 µM), BE2-C (0.08 ± 0.0 µM) and MIA (0.1 ± 0.0 µM).
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2018 |
Russell CC, Stevens A, Pi H, Khazandi M, Ogunniyi AD, Young KA, et al., 'Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Antibiotic Activity of Asymmetric and Monomeric Robenidine Analogues', CHEMMEDCHEM, 13 2573-2580 (2018) [C1]
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2016 |
Abraham RJ, Stevens AJ, Young KA, Russell C, Qvist A, Khazandi M, et al., 'Robenidine Analogues as Gram-Positive Antibacterial Agents', JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY, 59 2126-2138 (2016) [C1]
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2016 |
Lin AJS, Russell CC, Baker JR, Frailey SL, Sakoff JA, McCluskey A, 'A facile hybrid 'flow and batch' access to substituted 3,4-dihydro-2: H -benzo [b] [1,4]oxazinones', Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, 14 8732-8742 (2016) [C1] © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016. We describe a simple flow chemistry approach to libraries of ethyl 3-oxo-2-(substituted-phenylamino)-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[b][1,4]oxazine-6-c... [more] © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2016. We describe a simple flow chemistry approach to libraries of ethyl 3-oxo-2-(substituted-phenylamino)-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[b][1,4]oxazine-6-carboxylates (12a-l) and N-ethyl-3-oxo-2-(substituted-phenylamino)-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[b][1,4]oxazine-6-carboxamides (13a-l) in 38-87% yields. This scaffold is poorly described in the chemical literature. Screening against a panel of 11 cancer and one normal cell line showed that the amide linked library 13a-l was devoid of toxicity. Whereas the ester linked analogues 12b, 12c, 12g, 12j and 12l were highly cytotoxic with growth inhibition (GI50) values from 0.34 to >50 µM across all cell lines, with the 2-OH-Ph substituted 12l analogue presenting with sub-micromolar potency against the A2780 (ovarian; 0.34 ± 0.04 µM), BEC-2 (glioblastoma; 0.35 ± 0.06 µM), MIA (pancreas; 0.91 ± 0.054 µM) and SMA (murine glioblastoma; 0.77 ± 0.029 µM) carcinoma cell lines. Interestingly, the U87 glioblastoma cell line showed inherent resistance to growth inhibition by all analogues (GI50 32 to >50 µM) while the A2780 cells were highly sensitive (GI50 3.8-0.34 µM), suggesting that the analogues developed herein may be valuable lead compounds for the development of ovarian carcinoma specific cytotoxic agents. The differences in amide versus ester cytotoxicity was consitent with esterase cleaveage to release the cytotoxic warhead.
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2015 |
Russell C, Lin AJS, Hains P, Simone MI, Robinson PJ, Mccluskey A, 'An integrated flow and microwave approach to a broad spectrum protein kinase inhibitor', RSC Advances, 5 93433-93437 (2015) [C1] © 2015 The Royal Society of Chemistry. The protein kinase inhibitor CTx-0152960 (6, 2-((5-chloro-2-((4-morpholinophenyl)amino)pyrimidin-4-yl)amino)-N-methylbenzamide), and the pip... [more] © 2015 The Royal Society of Chemistry. The protein kinase inhibitor CTx-0152960 (6, 2-((5-chloro-2-((4-morpholinophenyl)amino)pyrimidin-4-yl)amino)-N-methylbenzamide), and the piperazinyl analogue, CTx-0294885 (7, 2-((5-chloro-2-((4-piperazin-1-ylphenyl)amino)pyrimidin-4-yl)amino)-N-methylbenzamide), were prepared using a hybrid flow and microwave approach. The use of flow chemistry approaches avoided the need for Boc-protection of piperidine in the key SNAr coupling with 1-fluoro-4-nitrobenzene. Microwave coupling of 4-morphilinoaniline 8 and 4-(piperazine-1-yl)aniline 9 with 2-(2,5-dichloropyrimidine-4-ylamino)-N-methylbenzamide 10, proved to be the most efficacious route to the target analogues 6 and 7. This hybrid methodology reduced the number of synthetic steps, gave enhanced overall yields and increased atom economy through step reduction and minimal requirement for chromatographic purification, relative to the original batch synthesis approach.
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2004 |
Hart ME, Chamberlin AR, Walkom CC, Sakoff JA, McCluskey A, 'Modified norcantharidins: synthesis, protein phosphatases 1 and 2A inhibition, and anticancer activity', Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 14 1969-1973 (2004) [C1]
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2003 |
Ackland S, Bowyer MC, Baldwin ML, Garner JA, Walkom CC, Sakoff JA, McCluskey A, 'Cantharidin analogues: synthesis and evaluation of growth inhibition in a panel of selected tumour cell lines', Bioorganic Chemistry, 31 68-79 (2003) [C1]
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2002 |
McCluskey A, Ackland S, Gardiner E, Walkom CC, Sakoff J, 'The inhibition of protein phosphatases 1 and 2A: a new target for rational anti-cancer drug design?', Anti-Cancer Drug Design, 16 291-303 (2002) [C1]
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2002 |
McCluskey A, Atherton MA, Walkom CC, Bowyer M, Sim A, Young D, Sakoff J, 'The first two cantharidin analogues displaying PP1 selectivity', Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 12 391-393 (2002) [C1]
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2001 |
McCluskey A, Walkom CC, Bowyer MC, Ackland SP, Gardiner E, Sakoff JA, 'Cantharimides: A new class of modified cantharidin analogues inhibiting protein phosphatases 1 and 2A', Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 11 2941-2946 (2001) [C1]
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Show 15 more journal articles |
Conference (1 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | ||
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2002 |
Sakoff JA, Ackland SP, Garg MB, Walkom CC, McCluskey A, 'Protein phosphatase 2A, a novel and unexplored anticancer target', EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER, FRANKFURT, GERMANY (2002)
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Grants and Funding
Summary
Number of grants | 3 |
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Total funding | $27,500 |
Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.
20192 grants / $22,500
Equipment Grant$20,000
Funding body: PRC for Chemical Biology and Pharmacology, The University of Newcastle
Funding body | PRC for Chemical Biology and Pharmacology, The University of Newcastle |
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Project Team | Cecilia Russell, Adam McCluskey, Jennifer Baker, Kate Prichard, Nicholas O'Brien |
Scheme | Equipment Support Scheme 2019 |
Role | Investigator |
Funding Start | 2019 |
Funding Finish | 2019 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
Conference Travel grant - international$2,500
Funding body: Priority Research Centre for Drug Development
Funding body | Priority Research Centre for Drug Development |
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Project Team | Cecilia Russell |
Scheme | PRC DD International Conference Award |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2019 |
Funding Finish | 2019 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
20181 grants / $5,000
Small equipment grant$5,000
Funding body: PRC for Chemical Biology and Pharmacology, The University of Newcastle
Funding body | PRC for Chemical Biology and Pharmacology, The University of Newcastle |
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Project Team | Cecilia Russell, Adam McCluskey |
Scheme | PRC small equipment scheme 2018 |
Role | Lead |
Funding Start | 2018 |
Funding Finish | 2018 |
GNo | |
Type Of Funding | Internal |
Category | INTE |
UON | N |
Research Supervision
Number of supervisions
Current Supervision
Commenced | Level of Study | Research Title | Program | Supervisor Type |
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2020 | PhD | Micro-Dissection of Clathrins Role in Mitosis by Chemical Biology Probes | PhD (Chemistry), College of Engineering, Science and Environment, The University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor |
2019 | Masters | Assessing the Efficacy of Bispidinones as Novel Pancreatic Cancer Therapeutic Agents | M Philosophy (Biological Sc), College of Engineering, Science and Environment, The University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor |
2019 | PhD | Development of Clathrin Inhibitors from Lead Compound Pitstop-2 | PhD (Chemistry), College of Engineering, Science and Environment, The University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor |
2019 | PhD | Micro-Dissection of Clathrins Role in Mitosis by Chemical Biology Probes | PhD (Chemistry), College of Engineering, Science and Environment, The University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor |
Dr Cecilia Russell
Positions
Research Associate
School of Environmental and Life Sciences
College of Engineering, Science and Environment
Casual Academic
School of Environmental and Life Sciences
College of Engineering, Science and Environment
Contact Details
cecilia.russell@newcastle.edu.au | |
Phone | (02) 49218711 |
Office
Room | C216 |
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Building | Chemistry Building. |