Usama Ammar
usama ammar

Dr Usama Ammar BSc (Hons), PhD, AFHEA

Lecturer

 0131 455 3646

  U.Ammar@napier.ac.uk

   

Biography

Usama Ammar is a Lecturer of Drug Discovery and Pharmaceutical Science in the School of Applied Sciences (Life Sciences) at Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, United kingdom.

Within Edinburgh Napier University, Usama provides teaching and learning support through different drug discovery-based modules (Life Sciences) to both postgraduate MSc and undergraduate BSc (Hons) students at the School of Applied Sciences (SAS). In addition, he provides and maintains both students supervision and support to improve their learning experience as well as their employability.

Usama has more than 10 years of experience in Drug Design and Pharmaceutical research with track record in drug discovery. In 2020, he has received his PhD in Biological Chemistry (Pharmaceutical Chemistry) from University of Science and Technology (UST), South Korea, where his research focused on the drug discovery and development of V600E-BRAF kinase enzyme targeting melanoma disease. His research project was based within Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST School), Seoul, South Korea under the supervision of Prof Oh Chang Hyun. During his PhD programme, he has received KIST Academic Excellence Award that covered his research contributions during his PhD studies.

Before that, Usama Ammar has received his master degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry (PGT) from Faculty of Pharmacy at Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt (2016). His research project focused on the drug development of small molecule candidates targeting V600E-BRAF kinase enzyme.

Before joining Edinburgh Napier University, He has expanded his research experience as a Medicinal Chemistry Postdoctoral Research Associate in drug discovery of kinase inhibitors within Prof Simon MacKay research group at Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences (SIPBS) in University of Strathclyde (2020 – 2022), Glasgow, United Kingdom, where he worked as part of a team developing drug-like candidates targeting IKK1 kinase enzyme in treating prostate cancer.

Throughout his career, Usama has used modern strategies in the drug design as well as the Molecular Modelling tools to speed the drug discovery process. These research activities have resulted in a number of patents and over 20 peer-reviewed research articles related to the Drug Design and Pharmaceutical Chemistry. You can check his research output through this ORCID link: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7218-641X

Usama Ammar has earned his BSc (Hons) in Chemistry and Biochemistry (2005) followed by BSc (Hons) in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (2010). Afterwards, he practiced as a licensed pharmacist in Egypt.

In 2010, he has joined the Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department within the Faculty of Pharmacy at Ahram Canadian University, Giza, Egypt (2010 – 2017). He participated in the teaching activities to deliver Pharmaceutical and Organic Chemistry-based modules as well as Drug Design modules to the undergraduate BSc (Hons) pharmacy students.

His current research interests lie at the interface of Drug Discovery and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, with a focus on design and synthesis of drug-like candidates (inhibitors, PROTACs and molecular glues) targeting kinase enzymes. Aiming at the discovery of pre-clinical small molecule candidates that addresses the needs for new therapeutics in the area of anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-infectives.

School

Research Groups

Themes

Research Areas

Esteem

Fellowships and Awards

  • Associate Fellow at Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)
  • KIST Academic Excellence Award

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC)
  • Member of Royal Pharmaceutical Society (MRPS)
  • Member of the American Chemical Society (MACS)
  • Member of the Egyptian Pharmacists Syndicate (MEPS)

 

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Date


20 results

Correction: Elsherbeny et al. 2-(3-Bromophenyl)-8-fluoroquinazoline-4-carboxylic Acid as a Novel and Selective Aurora A Kinase Inhibitory Lead with Apoptosis Properties: Design, Synthesis, In Vitro and In Silico Biological Evaluation. Life 2022, 12, 876

Journal Article
Elsherbeny, M. H., Ammar, U. M., Abdellattif, M. H., Abourehab, M. A. S., Abdeen, A., Ibrahim, S. F., …Elkamhawy, A. (2024)
Correction: Elsherbeny et al. 2-(3-Bromophenyl)-8-fluoroquinazoline-4-carboxylic Acid as a Novel and Selective Aurora A Kinase Inhibitory Lead with Apoptosis Properties: Design, Synthesis, In Vitro and In Silico Biological Evaluation. Life 2022, 12, 876. Life, 14(4), 423. https://doi.org/10.3390/life14040423
In the original publication [1], reference number 26 [2] was added by mistake. Thus, it was removed. With this correction, the order of some references has been adjusted acco...

Abstract 4472: Discovery of potential RAF-selective back pocket as a promising biological target for BRAF inhibitors in the treatment of resistant melanoma: Design, synthesis, biological evaluation and in silico studies

Journal Article
Ammar, U., Gamal, M., Abdel-Maksoud, M., Ali, E., Mahmoud, Z., Deug, K., …Oh, C. (2024)
Abstract 4472: Discovery of potential RAF-selective back pocket as a promising biological target for BRAF inhibitors in the treatment of resistant melanoma: Design, synthesis, biological evaluation and in silico studies. Cancer Research, 84(6_Supplement), 4472-4472. https://doi.org/10.1158/1538-7445.am2024-4472
The mutated BRAF kinase (V600E) is considered the key component in the MAPK signaling pathway that was reported to be significantly contributed to melanoma disease. Vemurafeni...

Scaffold Repurposing Reveals New Nanomolar Phosphodiesterase Type 5 (PDE5) Inhibitors Based on Pyridopyrazinone Scaffold: Investigation of In Vitro and In Silico Properties

Journal Article
Amin, K. M., El-Badry, O. M., Abdel Rahman, D. E., Abdellattif, M. H., Abourehab, M. A. S., El-Maghrabey, M. H., …Ammar, U. M. (2022)
Scaffold Repurposing Reveals New Nanomolar Phosphodiesterase Type 5 (PDE5) Inhibitors Based on Pyridopyrazinone Scaffold: Investigation of In Vitro and In Silico Properties. Pharmaceutics, 14(9), Article 1954. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14091954
Inhibition of PDE5 results in elevation of cGMP leading to vascular relaxation and reduction in the systemic blood pressure. Therefore, PDE5 inhibitors are used as antihyperte...

2-(3-Bromophenyl)-8-fluoroquinazoline-4-carboxylic Acid as a Novel and Selective Aurora A Kinase Inhibitory Lead with Apoptosis Properties: Design, Synthesis, In Vitro and In Silico Biological Evaluation

Journal Article
Elsherbeny, M. H., Ammar, U. M., Abdellattif, M. H., Abourehab, M. A. S., Abdeen, A., Ibrahim, S. F., …Elkamhawy, A. (2022)
2-(3-Bromophenyl)-8-fluoroquinazoline-4-carboxylic Acid as a Novel and Selective Aurora A Kinase Inhibitory Lead with Apoptosis Properties: Design, Synthesis, In Vitro and In Silico Biological Evaluation. Life, 12(6), Article 876. https://doi.org/10.3390/life12060876
New quinazoline derivatives were designed based on the structural modification of the reported inhibitors to enhance their selectivity toward Aurora A. The synthesized compoun...

Imidazooxazole derivative having antitumor effect, and pharmaceutical compostion including same

Patent
Mahmoud, G. E., Choi, H. S., Yoo, K. H., Han, D. K., Oh, C. H., Mohammed, A., …Ammar, U. (2022)
Imidazooxazole derivative having antitumor effect, and pharmaceutical compostion including same. US011332479B2
Provided is a pharmaceutical composition for preventing and treating tumors, the pharmaceutical composition including an imidazooxazole derivative compound, a solvate, a stere...

Structural optimization of 4-(imidazol-5-yl)pyridine derivatives affords broad-spectrum anticancer agents with selective B-RAFV600E/p38α kinase inhibitory activity: Synthesis, in vitro assays and in silico study

Journal Article
Ali, E. M., Mersal, K. I., Ammar, U. M., Zaraei, S., Abdel-Maksoud, M. S., El-Gamal, M. I., …Oh, C. (2022)
Structural optimization of 4-(imidazol-5-yl)pyridine derivatives affords broad-spectrum anticancer agents with selective B-RAFV600E/p38α kinase inhibitory activity: Synthesis, in vitro assays and in silico study. European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 171, Article 106115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejps.2022.106115
In the current article, we introduce design of a new series of 4-(imidazol-5-yl)pyridines with improved anticancer activity and selective B-RAF V600E /p38α kinase inhibitory a...

Scaffold Repurposing of In-House Small Molecule Candidates Leads to Discovery of First-in-Class CDK-1/HER-2 Dual Inhibitors: In Vitro and In Silico Screening

Journal Article
Elkamhawy, A., Ammar, U., Paik, S., Abdellattif, M. H., Elsherbeny, M. H., Lee, K., & Joo Roh, E. (2021)
Scaffold Repurposing of In-House Small Molecule Candidates Leads to Discovery of First-in-Class CDK-1/HER-2 Dual Inhibitors: In Vitro and In Silico Screening. Molecules, 26(17), Article 5324. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26175324
Recently, multitargeted drugs are considered a potential approach in treating cancer. In this study, twelve in-house indole-based derivatives were preliminary evaluated for th...

Design, synthesis, in vitro determination and molecular docking studies of 4-(1-(tert-butyl)-3-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl) pyridine derivatives with terminal sulfonamide derivatives in LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophage cells

Journal Article
Mersal, K. I., Abdel-Maksoud, M. S., Ali, E. M. H., Ammar, U. M., Zaraei, S., Kim, J., …Oh, C. (2021)
Design, synthesis, in vitro determination and molecular docking studies of 4-(1-(tert-butyl)-3-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl) pyridine derivatives with terminal sulfonamide derivatives in LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophage cells. Medicinal Chemistry Research, 30, 1925-1942. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00044-021-02784-9
In the present work, a new series of 4-(1-(tert-butyl)-3-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl) pyridine possessing terminal ethyl or propyl sulfonamides was designed and synthesized. The cy...

Discovery of New Imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole Derivatives as Potent Pan-RAF Inhibitors with Promising In Vitro and In Vivo Anti-melanoma Activity

Journal Article
Abdel-Maksoud, M. S., El-Gamal, M. I., Lee, B. S., Gamal El-Din, M. M., Jeon, H. R., Kwon, D., …Oh, C. H. (2021)
Discovery of New Imidazo[2,1-b]thiazole Derivatives as Potent Pan-RAF Inhibitors with Promising In Vitro and In Vivo Anti-melanoma Activity. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 64(10), 6877-6901. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00230
BRAF is an important component of MAPK cascade. Mutation of BRAF, in particular V600E, leads to hyperactivation of the MAPK pathway and uncontrolled cellular growth. Resistanc...

Design, synthesis, biological evaluation, and docking studies of novel (imidazol-5-yl)pyrimidine-based derivatives as dual BRAFV600E/p38α inhibitors

Journal Article
Ali, E. M., El-Telbany, R. F. A., Abdel-Maksoud, M. S., Ammar, U. M., Mersal, K. I., Zaraei, S., …Oh, C. (2021)
Design, synthesis, biological evaluation, and docking studies of novel (imidazol-5-yl)pyrimidine-based derivatives as dual BRAFV600E/p38α inhibitors. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 215, Article 113277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmech.2021.113277
The synergistic effect of dual inhibition of serine/threonine protein kinases that are involved in the same signalling pathway of the diseases can exert superior biological be...

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