Researchers
I completed my BSc and Master 1 (Chemistry & Biology) at the University of Aix-Marseille II in 2005 and, moved to Montpellier to complete a double diploma of Chemical Engineering and Master 2 (Chemistry & Biomolecular Engineering) at the top-ranked National Graduate School of Chemistry “ENSCM” in 2007, France. I gained great understanding of academic and industrial environments through courses and seminars.
I also experienced both sectors during different internships across Europe with Dr Georg Mehl (University of Hull, England), Prof. Marcel Jaspars (University of Aberdeen, Scotland) and research directors Drs Fadila Derguini and Georges Massiot (Pierre Fabre/ISTMT, Toulouse, France). I pursued my work at the Institute for Drug Sciences and Technologies of Toulouse “ISTMT” as CNRS Research Engineer for one year before heading to Australia.
I achieved my PhD under the supervision of Prof. Rob Capon at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience "IMB" (UQ) and in partnership with biopharmaceutical company Noscira in mid-2008. My PhD studies harnessed the potential of natural products from marine sources as serine/threonine kinase inhibitors in application to neurodegenerative disorders through traditional bioassay-guided approach and computational methods (virtual screening, QSAR studies).
In August 2012, I joined the group of Prof. David Fairlie at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience. Here my research focuses on the development of peptide drugs in application to diabetes type 2 and in collaboration with pharmaceutical company Pfizer.
"Research Interests"
- Drug Discovery and Development through natural product chemistry, solid-phase peptide synthesis, organic synthesis, medicinal chemistry and in silico tools (docking, virtual screening). Scientific contributions to cancer, neurodegenerative disorders and malaria.
- Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships using physicochemical descriptors and statistical calaculations to model chemical diversity with biological or physical properties (e.g. BBB permeability, oral bioavailabilty)
"Patent and publications"
Derguini F., Plisson F. and Massiot G. – Preparation of tagitinin C and F derivatives as
anti-cancer agents - FR 2941697 A1 20100806 (2010).
Plisson, F.; Huang, X.-C.; Khalil, Z.; Zhang, H.; Capon, R. J., Lamellarins as inhibitors of P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistance in a human colon cancer cell line. Chemistry – An Asian Journal 2012, 7 (7), 1616-1623
Long, C.; Beck, J.; Cantagrel, F.; Marcourt, L.; Vendier, L.; David, B.; Plisson, F.; Derguini, F.; Vandenberghe, I.; Aussages, Y.; Ausseil, F.; Lavaud, C.; Sautel, F.; Massiot, G., Proteasome inhibitors from Neoboutonia melleri. Journal of Natural Products 2012, 75 (1), 34-47.
Beck, J.; Guminski, Y.; Long, C.; Marcourt, L.; Derguini, F.; Plisson, F.; Grondin, A.; Vandenberghe, I.; Vispe, S.; Brel, V.; Aussages, Y.; Ausseil, F.; Arimondo, P. B.; Massiot, G.; Sautel, F.; Cantagrel, F., Semisynthetic Neoboutomellerone derivatives as ubiquitinproteasome pathway inhibitors. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry 2012, 20 (2), 819-831.
Ajala, O. S.; Piggott, A. M.; Plisson, F.; Khalil, Z.; Huang, X.-C.; Adesegun, S. A.; Coker, H. A. B.; Capon, R. J., Ikirydinium A: a new indole alkaloid from the seeds of Hunteria umbellata. Tetrahedron Letters 2011, 52, 7125-7127.
Plisson, F.; Conte, M.; Khalil, Z.; Huang, X.-C.; Piggott A. M.; Capon, R. J., New neurodegenerative serine/threonine kinase inhibitors from a southern Australian ascidian, Didemnum sp. ChemMedChem 2012, 7 (6), 983-990.
Zhang, H.; Khalil, Z.; Conte, M. M.; Plisson, F.; Capon, R. J., A search for kinase inhibitors and antibacterial agents: Bromopyrrolo-2-aminoimidazoles from a deep-water Great Australian Bight sponge, Axinella sp. Tetrahedron Letters 2012, 53 (29), 3784-3787.
Plisson, F., Prasad, P., Xiao, X., Piggott, A.M., Huang, X.C., Khalil, Z. and Capon, R.J. Callyspongisines AD: bromopyrrole alkaloids from an Australian marine sponge, Callyspongia sp. Org. Biomol. Chem., 2014 1579-1584.