Gamma Chi

Gamma Chi is a membrane protein biochemist/biophysicist with particular interest in uncovering the regulation mechanism of solute carriers (SLCs) and ion channels. As a senior scientist, Gamma employs various structural biology and biophysics techniques to understand the function of SLCs and ion channels at molecular level, and he also works on adapting these techniques for compound screening and lead optimisation for chemical probes and drug discovery programmes. Gamma is also a team lead for protein biochemical and structural characterisation for a Type 2 Diabetes-targeting therapeutics discovery programme, Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Precision Medicine (CAIPM).

Prior to his current role, Gamma worked as a postdoctoral scientist at Structural Genomics Consortium at the University of Oxford, where he focused his efforts on determinations of high-resolution structures of human urea transporters, potassium/chloride transporters and voltage-gated potassium channels. During his PhD at the University of Queensland in Australia, he studied the interaction between phospholipids and a bacterial mechanosensitive channel MscL using structural and biophysical techniques. For his Honours degree project at the University of Auckland (New Zealand), Gamma also determined a series of crystal structures of a bacterial salicylate synthase in complex with inhibitor molecules for a drug discovery programme.