Melissa Sweeney

My key research interest is using structural biology to host-pathogen interactions in the hopes of treating various diseases. I am currently a postdoctoral research associate with Professor Matthew Higgins in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford.

•  I teach biophysics and metabolism tutorials the biochemistry and medicine undergraduates.
•  I demonstrate undergraduate biochemistry practical courses.
• I am a lead tutor for a training course in biosciences for the Doctoral Training Centre.

I study the structure and function of complexes from Apicomplexa parasites involved in erythrocyte invasion, and the structure of novel antibodies which binds these to facilitate structure-based design of more efficacious vaccines against diseases such as malaria. My previous postdoctoral research was undertaken as part of the EUbOpen consortium in Professor Alex Bullock’s lab in the Centre for Medicines Discovery where I studied the structure and function of BTB/Kelch domain E3 ligases to understand their functions in disease and develop small molecules that target them for therapeutic purposes. I started this position in 2021 after completing my PhD at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia where my work focussed on mammalian and bacterial E3 ligases. I specialise in protein expression and purification, X-ray crystallography, analytical ultracentrifugation, and other biochemical and biophysical techniques. 

‘Covalent Inhibitors of KEAP1 with Exquisite Selectivity’, Imre Fejes , Piroska Markacz , Janos Tatai, Monika Rudas, Petra Dunkel, Mario Gyuris, Miklos Nyerges, Nicolas Provost , Valérie Duvivier, Philippe Delerive, Virginie Martiny, Alexandra Bristiel, Brice Vidal, William Richardson, Elisabeth M Rothweiler, Jeppe Tranberg-Jensen, Charlotte E Manning, Melissa N Sweeney, Rod Chalk, Kilian V M Huber, Alex N Bullock , Andras Herner, Klaus Seedorf, Cedric Vinson, Csaba Weber, Andras Kotschy, J Med Chem (2024); 67(23), 21208-21222

‘Exportin-1-Dependent Nuclear Export Of Dead-Box Helicase DDX3X Is Central To Its Role In Antiviral Immunity’ Steven Heaton, Sarah Atkinson, Melissa Sweeney, Sundy Yang, David Jans, Natalie Borg Cells (2019); 8, 1181; doi:10.3390/cells8101181

'Discovery of Conformationally Constrained ALK2 Inhibitors', Héctor González-Álvarez, Deeba Ensan, Tao Xin, Jong Fu Wong, Carlos A. Zepeda-Velázquez, Julien Cros, Melissa N. Sweeney, Laurent Hoffer, Taira Kiyota, Brian J. Wilson, Ahmed Aman, Owen Roberts, Methvin B. Isaac, Alex N. Bullock, David Smil, and Rima Al-awar, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (2024); 67(6), 4707-4725