Biography:Kelly Chibale

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Short description: Organic chemistry professor (born 1964)
Kelly Chibale

PhD, FRSSAf, FRSC
Born (1964-03-31) 31 March 1964 (age 59)
Zambia
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
University of Zambia
AwardsFellow of the Royal Society of South Africa 2009
Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry 2014
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Pennsylvania
University of Liverpool
Scripps Research Institute
Doctoral advisorStuart Warren

Kelly Chibale PhD, FRSSAf, FRSC (born 1964) is professor of organic chemistry at the University of Cape Town, and the founder and director of H3D research center. In 2018 he was recognized as one of Fortune magazine's top 50 World's Greatest Leaders.[1][2] His research focuses on target-directed inhibitors.

Early life and education

Chibale grew up without electricity or running water in Mpika district, Zambia.[3][4] His parents are Elizabeth Malekano Chanda and Harrison Chibale.[4] He studied chemistry at the University of Zambia, graduating in 1987.[5] Chibale worked at Kafironda Explosives in Mufulira.[4] As there were no opportunities for graduate studies in Zambia, he moved to the University of Cambridge for his PhD, working in Stuart Warren's group on synthetic organic chemistry of optically active molecules.[6] He was funded by a Cambridge Livingstone Trust scholarship.[6]

Research and career

Following his PhD, Chibale joined the University of Liverpool as a Sir William Ramsay British Research Fellow.[6] He developed optically active alcohols using lanthanides.[6][7] In 1994 he joined the Scripps Research Institute, creating complicated natural molecules from organic building blocks.[6] He began to explore angiogenesis inhibitors, which can be used to stop cancer cells developing new blood vessels.[8] Inspired by medicinal chemistry, Chibale returned to Africa in 1996, joining the research group of James Bull.[6] In 2002 he joined the University of California, San Francisco as a Sandler Foundation Fellow.[9] He was elected a Professor in 2007 and a Life Fellow of the University of Cape Town in 2009.[9] His group studies treatments for HIV, cancer, malaria and hypertension.[10] He set up collaborations and exchange programs for South African students to learn how to translate basic science into potential products.[11] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa in 2009.[12]

In 2010 he founded H3D, the first drug discovery centre at the University of Cape Town.[1][13] The research program received significant media attention and has been supported by Bill Gates.[3] In 2008 he took a sabbatical, working as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Pennsylvania and Pfizer.[6] In 2012 Chibale's group discovered MMV390048, an aminopyridine compound that can be used as a single-dose treatment for malaria.[14][15] It was the first antimalarial medicine to enter phase 1 human studies in Africa.[16] In 2016 they discovered another antimalarial compound, UCT943.[17][18][16] He has written for The Conversation about how Africa's medicinal drug research can paved the landscape for health innovation in the continent.[19]

Today he holds a Chair of Drug Discovery at the University of Cape Town.[20][21] In 2018 H3D partnered with Merck & Co. to build Africa's capacity for research.[22]

In 2016 the Royal Society of Chemistry recognised him as one of their 175 Faces of chemistry.[21] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2014.[23]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "The World's 50 Greatest Leaders" (in en). Fortune. http://fortune.com/longform/worlds-greatest-leaders-2018/#kelly. 
  2. "Zambia : Zambian Professor named one of the 50 World's Greatest Leaders for 2018" (in en-GB). LusakaTimes.com. 2018-04-24. https://www.lusakatimes.com/2018/04/24/zambian-professor-named-one-of-the-50-worlds-greatest-leaders-for-2018/. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 "UCT scientist, Kelly Chibale: From poverty to a global leader | Cape Argus" (in en). https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/uct-scientist-kelly-chibale-from-poverty-to-a-global-leader-14659350. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Inspiring life of Prof Chibale – Zambia Daily Mail" (in en-US). https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/inspiring-life-of-prof-chibale/. 
  5. "Prof Kelly Chibale | Department of Chemistry" (in en). http://www.chemistry.uct.ac.za/cem/staff/academic/chibale. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Leonard, Jenny (2012-01-01). "Kelly Chibale: An advocate of innovation". South African Journal of Science 108 (11–12): 27–29. doi:10.4102/sajs.v108i11/12.1453. ISSN 0038-2353. 
  7. Chibale, Kelly; Greeves, Nicholas; Lyford, Lisa; Pease, J.Elizabeth (1993-01-01). "New homochiral binaphthol-modified organolanthanide reagents for the enantioselective addition to aldehydes" (in en). Tetrahedron: Asymmetry 4 (12): 2407–2410. doi:10.1016/S0957-4166(00)82211-9. ISSN 0957-4166. 
  8. Angiogenesis inhibitors, 1999-07-06, https://patents.google.com/patent/CA2336774A1/de, retrieved 2018-05-26 
  9. 9.0 9.1 "MIM2013 - Meet our Plenary Speakers: Prof Kelly Chibale | MalariaWorld" (in en). https://malariaworld.org/blog/mim2013-meet-our-plenary-speakers-prof-kelly-chibale. 
  10. "At the crossroads" (in en). Chemistry World. https://www.chemistryworld.com/section/feature/at-the-crossroads/3004494.article. 
  11. Jarvis, Lisa M.. "Building Brick By Brick | May 4, 2009 Issue - Vol. 87 Issue 18 | Chemical & Engineering News". https://cen.acs.org/articles/87/i18/Building-Brick-Brick.html. 
  12. "AfOx insaka – with Prof Kelly Chibale and Prof Sandra Fredman » Africa Oxford Initiative" (in en-GB). http://www.afox.ox.ac.uk/news/1687/. 
  13. SciDev.Net. "Africa gets 'holistic' drug discovery centre" (in en). SciDev.Net. http://www.scidev.net/en/news/africa-gets-holistic-drug-discovery-centre.html. 
  14. "Malaria about to be stung" (in en). News24. https://www.news24.com/Archives/City-Press/Malaria-about-to-be-stung-20150429. 
  15. "MMV048 | Medicines for Malaria Venture" (in en). https://www.mmv.org/related-story-type/mmv048. 
  16. 16.0 16.1 "FIVE QUESTIONS WITH PROF. KELLY CHIBALE | Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3D)" (in en). http://www.h3d.uct.ac.za/news/five-questions-prof-kelly-chibale. 
  17. "University of Cape Town's H3-D makes advances in malaria eradication" (in en-GB). CPAfrica. 2017-12-07. https://www.cp-africa.com/2017/12/07/uct-h3-d-malaria-eradication/. 
  18. Editor, Online (3 August 2016). "Second potent anti-malarial candidate identified | Lusaka Voice" (in en-US). http://www.lusakavoice.com/2016/08/03/second-potent-anti-malarial-candidate-identified/. 
  19. Chibale, Kelly. "How Africa is helping expand the global antimalarial drug pipeline" (in en). The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/how-africa-is-helping-expand-the-global-antimalarial-drug-pipeline-63527. 
  20. "Professor Kelly Chibale PhD (Cambridge) FRSSAf FRSC | Infectious Disease & Molecular Medicine" (in en). http://www.idm.uct.ac.za/idm/members/full-members/kelly-chibale. 
  21. 21.0 21.1 "Professor Kelly Chibale FRSC | 175 Faces of Chemistry" (in en). http://www.rsc.org/diversity/175-faces/all-faces/professor-kelly-chibale-frsc/. 
  22. "MERCK, UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN AND MEDICINES FOR MALARIA VENTURE JOIN FORCES TO FEED THE ANTIMALARIAL PIPELINE | Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3D)" (in en). http://www.h3d.uct.ac.za/news/merck-university-cape-town-and-medicines-malaria-venture-join-forces-feed-antimalarial-pipeline. 
  23. "Our Team | Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3D)" (in en). http://www.h3d.uct.ac.za/hd3/about-h3d/our-team.