Darren Fergal Beirne

Darren Fergal Beirne is a PhD candidate who is working on the functionalisation of the Pt(IV) prodrugs with Tyrosine Kinase (TK) Inhibitors.

The aim is to prepare derivatives of Pt(IV) prodrugs with cisplatin scaffold and inhibitors of TK (i.e. Imatinib and Nilotinib). TK activity is overexpressed in several cancer lines and in particular in the colorectal tumor.

Gastrointestinal cancers are rarely treated with platinum derivatives and the aim in to make them effective also against these kind of cancers by functionalization with Tki.

Also in this case the project combines

• chemical part with the synthesis of a library of metal complexes: structural features of the ligands
• biological part where the anticancer activity of the compounds will be evaluated in collaboration with collaborators at MU and in other research institutes.

Funding Body: IRC Irish Research Council