2023 ICBS Young Chemical Biologists Awardee

Marco Di Antonio, Ph.D.

Imperial College London, United Kingdom

Dr. Di Antonio’s group works at the interface between chemistry, biology and genomics, with the aim to develop novel strategies to study cancer and ageing biology from a fresh perspective. His main research focus is on the chemistry and biology of DNA, with a particular interest in non-helical DNA structures like G-quadruplexes. Recent efforts from his group have led to the discovery of the first human protein that binds selectively multimolecular G-quadruplexes, and to characterise the role of G-quadruplex RNA in the formation of pathological aggregates linked to neurodegenerative diseases.
Dr Di Antonio was awarded a Lister Institute Prize in 2022 and the runner up prize in 2023 for the Young Investigator in Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology by the EFMC.

Award Lecture: “RNA G-quadruplex structures are responsible for the formation of insoluble aggregates characteristic of the neurodegenerative disease ALS”

Statement of ambition to support ICBS: As an active member of the local nucleic acids interest group (Royal Society of Chemistry, UK), I am passionate to promote nucleic acids’ chemical biology within the local community. As a member of the ICBS and as a young chemical biologist awardee now, I plan to leverage the international network offered by the ICBS and to attend its related events to promote chemical biology and disseminate my passion for nucleic acids within a broadest and international network. I look forward to attending regularly the ICBS annual meetings to meet peers and disseminate our results. I will be honoured to deliver a talk to present our latest research outputs and receive feedbacks from the international community. On the longer term, I envisage to support and help with the organisation of ICBS events within the UK and abroad, to help the community to get even more established in the UK and grow its international reputation.