Alice Motion | |
---|---|
![]() Motion in October 2022 | |
Born | Alice Elizabeth Williamson 28 October 1984 |
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | |
Scientific career | |
Fields | |
Institutions | University of Sydney |
Doctoral advisor | Matthew J. Gaunt |
Other academic advisors | |
Website |
www |
Alice Elizabeth Motion (born Alice Williamson, [1] 28 October 1984) is a British chemist, science communicator, and associate professor at the School of Chemistry, University of Sydney. [2] She is the founder of the Breaking Good project which encourages high school and undergraduate students to take part in research that can benefit human health. [3] In 2018, the Breaking Good project was a finalist on the Google.org Impact Challenge. [4]
Motion received her MChem from the University of Leeds in 2007 where she worked with Philip Kocienski on the synthesis of an N-acetylcolchinol-combretastatin hybrid. She moved to the University of Cambridge where she obtained her PhD in 2012 while working with Matthew J. Gaunt on strategies for asymmetric arylation. [5]
In 2012, Motion moved to the University of Sydney in Australia to work with Matthew H. Todd on the Open Source Malaria project as Postdoctoral Research Fellow. [6] In 2014, she became a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at the same institution until her promotion to Lecturer in Chemical Education and Outreach at the same institution in 2017.
Pyrimethamine is a pharmaceutical medicine used in combination with leucovorin to treat toxoplasmosis and cystoisosporiasis and in combination with dapsone to prevent Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia in HIV/AIDS patients. [7] [8] In 2015, Turing Pharmaceuticals drastically increased the price of pyrimethamine, which it markets as Daraprim, from about US$13.50 to $750 per tablet. [9] [10] In response, Motion, along with her academic advisor, Matthew H. Todd, and the Open Source Malaria team led a small team of high school students from Sydney Grammar School to synthesise the drug. [11] [12] The team produced 3.7 grams of pyrimethamine for under US$20, which would be worth between $US35,000 and $US110,000 in the United States according to Turing Pharmaceuticals's pricing. [13] This received significant media attention and was featured in The Guardian [12] and Time magazine, [14] and on ABC News (Australia), [13] the BBC, [15] and CNN. [16]
Motion, like her former research advisor, is a proponent of open science. [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] She believes that open science and research provides transparency of data and results that prevent unnecessary duplication. [22]
In December 2022 Motion was appointed interim director of Sydney Nano. [23]
Alice Motion | |
---|---|
![]() Motion in October 2022 | |
Born | Alice Elizabeth Williamson 28 October 1984 |
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | |
Scientific career | |
Fields | |
Institutions | University of Sydney |
Doctoral advisor | Matthew J. Gaunt |
Other academic advisors | |
Website |
www |
Alice Elizabeth Motion (born Alice Williamson, [1] 28 October 1984) is a British chemist, science communicator, and associate professor at the School of Chemistry, University of Sydney. [2] She is the founder of the Breaking Good project which encourages high school and undergraduate students to take part in research that can benefit human health. [3] In 2018, the Breaking Good project was a finalist on the Google.org Impact Challenge. [4]
Motion received her MChem from the University of Leeds in 2007 where she worked with Philip Kocienski on the synthesis of an N-acetylcolchinol-combretastatin hybrid. She moved to the University of Cambridge where she obtained her PhD in 2012 while working with Matthew J. Gaunt on strategies for asymmetric arylation. [5]
In 2012, Motion moved to the University of Sydney in Australia to work with Matthew H. Todd on the Open Source Malaria project as Postdoctoral Research Fellow. [6] In 2014, she became a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at the same institution until her promotion to Lecturer in Chemical Education and Outreach at the same institution in 2017.
Pyrimethamine is a pharmaceutical medicine used in combination with leucovorin to treat toxoplasmosis and cystoisosporiasis and in combination with dapsone to prevent Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia in HIV/AIDS patients. [7] [8] In 2015, Turing Pharmaceuticals drastically increased the price of pyrimethamine, which it markets as Daraprim, from about US$13.50 to $750 per tablet. [9] [10] In response, Motion, along with her academic advisor, Matthew H. Todd, and the Open Source Malaria team led a small team of high school students from Sydney Grammar School to synthesise the drug. [11] [12] The team produced 3.7 grams of pyrimethamine for under US$20, which would be worth between $US35,000 and $US110,000 in the United States according to Turing Pharmaceuticals's pricing. [13] This received significant media attention and was featured in The Guardian [12] and Time magazine, [14] and on ABC News (Australia), [13] the BBC, [15] and CNN. [16]
Motion, like her former research advisor, is a proponent of open science. [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] She believes that open science and research provides transparency of data and results that prevent unnecessary duplication. [22]
In December 2022 Motion was appointed interim director of Sydney Nano. [23]