Winner: 2025 Interdisciplinary Prize
Professor Ali Tavassoli
University of Southampton and Curve Therapeutics
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2025 Interdisciplinary Prize: awarded for the high-throughput intracellular production and screening of cyclic peptide libraries, and their application in the identification of inhibitors of protein–protein interactions.
The interactions between proteins inside living cells are essential for normal cellular function. When these protein鈥損rotein interactions go awry, they can contribute to diseases such as cancer. Despite their importance, they have been difficult to target using traditional drug discovery methods.
Ali鈥檚 research brings together tools from chemistry and biology to tackle this challenge. He has developed techniques to generate and screen libraries containing hundreds of millions of cyclic peptides 鈥� a type of small, ring-shaped molecule 鈥� directly inside living cells. These libraries of molecules are tested for function inside disease-relevant cells to find those that can alter the function of specific target proteins.
Using these approaches, Ali and his team have discovered several new molecules that target proteins previously considered difficult or impossible to drug. These discoveries are now being advanced toward clinical development through the biotechnology company Ali co-founded called Curve Therapeutics.
Biography
Ali is Professor of Chemical Biology at the University of Southampton and Chief Scientific Officer of Curve Therapeutics.
Ali leads interdisciplinary teams of scientists whose efforts are focused on the development and use of an intracellular high-throughput screening platform for the discovery of cyclic peptide inhibitors of some of the most challenging disease targets. The compounds discovered using these platforms serve as the starting point for new therapeutics that are currently being developed towards the clinic. Ali is co-founder of Curve Therapeutics. He designed Curve鈥檚 mammalian cell screening platform, as well as their successful approach to scaffold-hopping cyclic peptides to small molecules.
The originality and impact of Ali鈥檚 research has been recognised by several awards, including the 2025 Medicine Maker Power List, the 2020 European Peptide Society's Leonidas Zervas award, the 2017 番茄社区 Medimmune Protein and Peptide Science Award and the 2008 EuChemS medal for European Young Chemist.
Ali has contributed to the scientific community throughout his career. He was a committee member (2009-2012) and Chair (2012-2015) of the 番茄社区 Chemical Biology and Biological Chemistry Interest Group, and a member (2012-2017) and President (2020-2023) of the 番茄社区 Chemistry Biology Interface Division Council. Ali has been a member of the editorial board of 番茄社区 Chemical Biology since 2020.
The increasingly interdisciplinary nature of chemical research means there is huge breadth and scope in potential areas that one can work in.
Professor Ali Tavassoli
Q&A with Professor Ali Tavassoli
How did you first become interested in chemistry?
My mum and dad are both chemists, so I was fortunate to grow up surrounded by a love for science from an early age. My A-level chemistry teacher, Mr Turner at Nailsea School, also played a key role in nurturing my interest in chemistry as a young adult.
Tell us about somebody who has inspired or mentored you in your career.
My postdoctoral supervisors, Professor Douglas Young at Sussex and Professor Stephen Benkovic at Penn State, were both amazing mentors who were instrumental to my success and growth. Each inspired me to push myself and my science in new directions, often into new areas and disciplines. They taught me how to approach scientific problems holistically and their labs provided a fantastic scientific environment to learn and grow.
What motivates you?
Like many others in drug discovery, my main motivation is to help extend and improve the quality of life of patients. But on a day-to-day basis, I am inspired and driven by my desire to learn and uncover new things. I look forward to speaking to members of the team, seeing the latest data and finding out how an experiment that we had previously discussed had gone. The wonder of gaining new knowledge was instilled in me from a young age by my parents, and I am grateful to be in a role where I can satisfy my scientific curiosities daily.
What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in chemistry?
Go for it! Chemistry is central to solving some of the biggest challenges facing society today. And the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of chemical research means there is huge breadth and scope in potential areas that one can work in.
What has been a highlight for you (either personally or in your career)?
Spinning out Curve from my academic lab and growing it alongside my co-founder, Simon Kerry, has been an incredible journey. Reaching the point we鈥檙e at today has been deeply rewarding. Taking a step back from academia to focus on building a biotech company wasn鈥檛 an easy decision, but the continued learning has made it thoroughly worthwhile.
How are the chemical sciences making the world a better place?
In every way! Chemistry is fundamental to almost every aspect of our daily lives. It underpins the development of new medicine, drives innovation in energy storage and battery technologies that are essential renewable energy systems. Chemistry also plays a key role in designing new materials for everything from construction to clothing. And cleaner more efficient catalytic processes will help reduce pollution and minimise environmental impact.
Why do you think collaboration and teamwork are important in science?
Collaboration and teamwork are essential to modern research because the complexity of modern scientific challenges often requires a diverse range of skills, perspectives and expertise. Scientific progress rarely comes from working in isolation, and an interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving helps us to fully understand and address multifaceted questions. Teamwork also fosters creativity and accelerates problem-solving.
What is your favourite element?
Carbon, because it is my material of choice for bike frames, with titanium being a close second.