In our lab we are interested in employing synthetic organic chemistry as a tool to probe and manipulate the structure and function of biologically relevant molecules to study biological problems and potentially discover treatments for diseases.

Carbohydrates have emerged as important factors of molecular recognition in biology and medicine. Understanding the roles of these complex molecules, which are found on the surface of cells as part of glycoproteins or glycolipids is of great importance. However, the synthesis of these oligosaccharide structures is still a challenging task.

Our current research interests focus on the development of new synthetic techniques for the facile synthesis of oligosaccharide libraries and glycoconjugates drug analogues.

We are also interested in the development of multivalent platforms to study carbohydrate-protein interactions in the context of disease.

Dr Galan is a supervisor in the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Chemical Synthesis