Margaret Brimble

Dame Margaret Anne Brimble is a distinguished New Zealand chemist renowned for her pioneering work in natural product synthesis, peptide chemistry, and medicinal chemistry. She holds the Chair of Organic and Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Auckland and serves as the Director of Medicinal Chemistry at the same institution. Her research has significantly contributed to the development of novel therapeutics, particularly in the treatment of neurological disorders.

Academic Background

Born in Auckland in 1961, Dame Margaret Brimble pursued her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees at the University of Auckland, graduating with first-class honours. She was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to undertake her Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of Southampton, where she completed her thesis on the bis-spiroacetal moiety of salinomycin in 1985.

Research Focus

Professor Brimble's research encompasses the synthesis of bioactive natural products and peptides with potential therapeutic applications. Her work has led to the development of trofinetide, NNZ-2566, a drug approved by the FDA in 2023 for the treatment of Rett Syndrome, marking the first New Zealand-discovered neurological drug to achieve such approval. Additionally, her team has developed NNZ-2591, currently in phase 2 clinical trials for conditions including Phelan-McDermid syndrome, Angelman syndrome, Pitt-Hopkins syndrome, and Prader-Willi syndrome.

Her laboratory is also notable for being New Zealand's only facility accredited by Medsafe to manufacture peptides under current Good Manufacturing Practice, cGMP, for human clinical trials.

Notable Contributions

Beyond her academic research, Dame Margaret co-founded SapVax, a cancer immunotherapy company utilizing her CLipPA peptide lipidation technology to develop self-adjuvanting peptide-based cancer vaccines. She has published over 460 scientific papers, authored more than 60 reviews, and holds upwards of 30 patents, reflecting her substantial impact on the field.

Professional Engagements

Dame Margaret Brimble has been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2022 Royal Society of Chemistry Pedler Award and the 2023 Ernest Guenther Award in Chemistry of Natural Products. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and the Royal Society of New Zealand, and has been inducted into the American Chemical Society Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame. Her leadership roles have included serving as Past-President of the IUPAC Organic and Biomolecular Division III and as an Associate Editor for Organic Letters.

Through her extensive research, innovation, and leadership, Dame Margaret Brimble continues to make significant contributions to the advancement of medicinal chemistry and the development of life-saving therapeutics.