"David Thurston is Emeritus Professor of Drug Discovery in the Institute of Pharmaceutical Science (IPS) at King’s College London. He has a first degree in pharmacy, an MSc in Precision Medicine and a PhD in synthetic medicinal chemistry, and has worked at two schools of pharmacy in the USA (University of Texas at Austin and Kentucky Colleges of Pharmacy) and four in the UK (the Portsmouth, Nottingham, London University and King’s College School of Pharmacy). David’s academic research team discovered the first C8-linked sequence-selective DNA-interactive PBD dimer, analogues of which are now used as the payload component for Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs) in development by a number of companies world-wide as cancer therapies (e.g., Loncastuximab teserine). David has co-founded a number of oncology biotech companies including Spirogen Ltd in 2000 (which commercialized the PBD dimers, and was acquired by AstraZeneca/Medimmune in 2013), and Femtogenix Ltd in 2015 (which works on next-generation sequence-selective DNA-interactive ADC payloads, and for which he still acts as CSO). During his academic career, David has supervised numerous PhD students and postdoctoral research fellows, and has been the PI of several major Program Grants from funders including Cancer Research UK. He has many publications in medicinal chemistry/chemistry journals and books, and is currently Editor-in-Chief of the Drug Discovery book series of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Ilona Pysz has a first degree in Forensic Science, an MSc in Cancer Pharmacology and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Science in which she produced a number of novel Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs), and developed a hydrophobicity assay which allows the physico-chemical properties of ADC payloads to be evaluated and compared. She has previously worked within the Bioanalysis and Safety Assessment (Toxicology) departments at Covance Inc (where she was responsible for overall pre-clinical study coordination of both in-house and external research projects), the drug discovery department at Femtogenix Ltd (where she worked on the development of novel ADC conjugation strategies and managed ADC development projects), and is now in a clinical research position at Medpace, Inc. Ilona has published widely in the cancer drug discovery area, has given presentations at international conferences, and is a multiple author in the Royal Society of Chemistry Drug Discovery book ""Cytotoxic Payloads for Antibody–Drug Conjugates""."
...This text is a gem for any graduate student in the pharmaceutical sciences or for anyone seeking an introductory reference in the area of anticancer drugs. -- John S. Williamson, University of Mississippi, writing in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Vol. 50, No. 26: December 27, 2007 The author explains in the foreword that this, 'book attempts to bring together a broad spectrum of information relating to the chemistry and pharmacology of anticancer drugs and therapies.' The author succeeds in this aim in a very elegant text. The book is both informative and easy to read. It is a very interesting book and would be a welcome addition to any individual's collection, and essential if this is your field. - Steve Mitchell, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London in Imperial College of Science Technology, July 2008 . . . a noteworthy survey . . . The author, a renowned scientist in cancer research and drug development, clearly does not fail to provide up-to-date information on this trend in today's pharmacology. A book that covers such a large number of anticancer drugs, ranging from those in clinical use to those under basic research, is nearly impossible to write. Dr. Thurston has done so, however, thanks to his expertise in the field . . . easy readability and directness make the book ideal for students . . . an indispensable resource for the libraries of research institutes, universities, and hospitals. - Matteo Conti, Ospedales S. Maria delle Croci, Ravenna, Italy, in ChemMedChem, 2007, No. 2 The book is unique in providing molecular structures for all anticancer drugs, discussing them in terms of history, chemistry, mechanism of action, structure-function relationships, and pharmacology . . . This volume is an indispensable resource for cancer researchers, medicinal chemists, and other biomedical scientists involved in the development of new anticancer treatments. - In Anticancer Research, 2009, Vol. 29 As written, the book does an excellent job for its intended audience of advanced undergraduates and health-care professionals in training or those with only peripheral exposure to cancer therapy . . . Overall, the book is easy to read and manages to not be redundant. This is all quite an accomplishment considering the topic. - RA Sikes, University of Delaware, in British Journal of Cancer, 2007, Vol. 97