Professor Matthew Fuchter

About

Matt Fuchter is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford and the Sydney Bailey Fellow in Chemistry at St Peter’s College Oxford. He runs a multidisciplinary research group with a broad array of interests in functional molecules, materials and medicines. In fundamental research, his work has significantly contributed to the development of chiral materials for optoelectronic applications and photoswitchable molecules for diverse functional applications. In translational research, he is an inventor of two different drugs (Samuraciclib and APL-4098) undergoing clinical trials for cancer therapy and is a Founder, Non-Executive Director and Head of Chemistry for NK:IO Ltd, an immune-oncology spinout company. His ORCID ID is https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1767-7072.

Matt completed PhD research at Imperial College London under the supervision of Professor A. G. M. Barrett, FRS FMedSci in 2006, and postdoctoral studies at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia, where he worked with Professor A. B. Holmes, AC FRS FAA FInstP in 2007. He was then appointed as the RCUK Academic Fellow at the School of Pharmacy (University of London) for one year before taking up a Lectureship at Imperial College London. At Imperial College he was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2012, Reader in 2015 and Professor in 2018. In 2024 he moved to his current position at the University of Oxford.

Matthew has been awarded several prizes in recognition of his work. These include the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize (2014), the 2018 Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award for Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, a Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists in the United Kingdom (2020), conferred by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences, the RSC Corday-Morgan Prize (2021), the RSC Stephanie L. Kwolek Award (2022), and the RSC BMCS Malcolm Campbell Memorial Prize (2023). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (since 2015) and the European Academy of Sciences (since 2023).

Teaching

Matt tutors in Organic Chemistry at St Peter's College. He has significant experience in teaching organic chemistry across the entire curriculum through an array of formats, including tutorials, workshops, labs and lectures.

Research

My group and I have broad research interests with an aim to make fundamental scientific advances that have strong potential for impact. We use chemical synthesis and physical science innovation to invent new methods, molecules, and materials to advance chemistry-led modern science. Enabled by our technical expertise in molecular design and synthesis, the following areas represent key themes: the development of photoswitchable molecules and materials; chiral materials for technological applications; and drug discovery science. To learn more about these research areas, visit his Department of Chemistry profile here.