Directory of Experts
Details for Professor Tom Simpson
| Personal details | |
| Name | Professor Tom Simpson |
| Job title | Emeritus Professor Senior Research Fellow in Chemistry |
| Department | School of Chemistry University of Bristol School of Chemistry University of Bristol |
| Personal web page | http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/staff/tsimpson.htm |
| Contact details | This expert can be contacted via the University of Bristol Public Relations
Office. To help us deal with your request, please mention the Directory of Experts when contacting the Public Relations Office. work+44 (0)117 331 8092 email: public-relations@bristol.ac.uk |
| Qualifications | B.Sc., D.Sc.(Edin.), Ph.D.(Bristol), F.R.S., F.R.S.C. |
| Professional details | |
| Keywords | polyketides compounds lovastatin avermectin rapamycin erythromycin strobilurin |
| Areas of expertise | Polyketides are a group of natural products that have found widespread use in human and veterinary medicine, and agriculture. Examples include: erythromycin from the bacterium Saccharopolyspora erythrae, a potent broad spectrum antibiotic; lovastatin from the fungus Aspergillus terreus, an effective cholesterol lowering agent; avermectin from the bacterium Streptomyces avermitilis, the most widely used antiparasitic in animal husbandry; rapamycin from the bacterium Streptomyces hygroscopicus an immuno-suppressant which is central to therapeutic approaches to the problem of rejection in organ transplantation, and which is also being developed as an anti-cancer agent; and strobilurin from the fungus Bolinea lutea, a naturally occurring antifungal agent and the inspiration for the development of one of the most widely used classes of antifungal agrochemicals. The value of such compounds amounts to billions of pounds annually. |