Naresh Kumar

Naresh Kumar

Naresh Kumar

M.Sc. Punj., Ph.D. W'gong., CChem, MRACI

Professor

Contact details

Phone: +61 2 9385 4698
Email: n.kumar@unsw.edu.au

Office

Room 733, SEB Building E8
UNSW, Kensington, 2052

Research Group Website

/research/research-groups/kumar-group

Biographical Details

PhD in Organic Chemistry from Wollongong University, 1983; Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Organic Chemistry, University of New South Wales, 1983 - 1985; Professional Officer, Organic Chemistry, UNSW 1985 - 1995; Project Scientist 1995 - 2003; Lecturer 2003 - 2008; Associate Professor 2008 - 2012; Professor 2013 - present.

Research Interests and Projects

Our group’s research interests intersect the boundaries between chemistry, biology and medicine leading to a diverse range of research projects at the forefront of medicinal chemistry and antimicrobial biomaterials. The research is multi-disciplinary in nature and involves a combination of synthetic organic chemistry, molecular modelling, analytical chemistry, surface characterisation and biological screening.

Projects currently running in our group include (see our research group website for details):

  • Natural products and heterocyclic chemistry - development of new synthetic methodologies for the preparation of biologically important natural products and their analogues. (with Prof D. Black)
  • Design and synthesis of novel antimicrobial agents
    • Quorum-sensing inhibitors
    • Antimicrobial peptide mimics (with Prof M. Willcox)
    • Inhibitors of Bacterial Transcription Initiation (with Prof P. Lewis, University of Newcastle)
  • Design and synthesis of novel anticancer agents
    • Novel anticancer heterocyclic analogues of isoflavones
    • Discovery and development of Ubiquitin Specific Protease (USP5) inhibitors(with Dr B. Cheung and Prof G. Marshall)
    • Developing anticancer compounds that activate glucose oxidation(with Dr F. Byrne and A/Prof K. Hoehn)
  • Antimicrobial biomaterials and disinfective strategies
    • COVID19 - New disinfection systems to overcome PPE shortages and provide long term protection against infection in Hospitals and Public Settings. (with Prof W. Walsh, Prof M. Willcox, Prof. R. MacIntyre)
    • Antibacterial bone grafts and orthopaedic implants (with Prof W. Walsh, Prof M. Willcox)
    • Microbiologically Induced Stress Corrosion Cracking in Mines (with Prof S. Saydam and Prof M. Manefield)
    • Tackling hospital acquired infections with peptide mimics (with Prof M. Willcox and others)
    • Antimicrobial hydrogels based on ultra-short peptide mimics (with Dr R. Chen and Prof P Thordarson)

Research Group and Outputs

The research group is typically around 15 people in size with 2-3 post-docs, 10 or so Ph.D/MPhil. students and 2-3 honours students and visitors. New students are well mentored and supported by post-docs and senior PhD students in their area of research, as well as by Prof Kumar and Prof Black. We have a diverse and inclusive group with members from all over the world, creating a supportive environment for all to excel in their studies.

The group research has been well supported by ARC grants, NHMRC grants, and commercial research contracts, totalling $3.6M over the past 5 years.

Selected Publications

(Career total publications = 230)

  1. Aldilla VR; Chen R; Martin AD; Marjo CE; Rich AM; Black DSC; Thordarson P; Kumar N, 2020, 'Anthranilamide-based Short Peptides Self-Assembled Hydrogels as Antibacterial Agents', Scientific Reports, vol. 10, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-57342-6
  2. Kuppusamy R; Willcox M; Black DSC; Kumar N, 2019, 'Short cationic peptidomimetic antimicrobials', Antibiotics, vol. 8, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics8020044
  3. Wenholz DS; Bhadbhade M; Kandemir H; Ho J; Kumar N; Black DS, 2019, 'Substituent effects in solid-state assembly of activated benzotriazoles', CrystEngComm, vol. 21, pp. 835 - 842, http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c8ce01757c
  4. Taunk A; Chen R; Iskander G; Ho KKK; Black DSC; Willcox MDP; Kumar N, 2018, 'Dual-Action Biomaterial Surfaces with Quorum Sensing Inhibitor and Nitric Oxide to Reduce Bacterial Colonization', ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering, vol. 4, pp. 4174 - 4182, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsbiomaterials.8b00816
  5. Kuppusamy R; Yasir M; Berry T; Cranfield CG; Nizalapur S; Yee E; Kimyon O; Taunk A; Ho KKK; Cornell B; Manefield M; Willcox M; Black DSC; Kumar N, 2018, 'Design and synthesis of short amphiphilic cationic peptidomimetics based on biphenyl backbone as antibacterial agents', European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, vol. 143, pp. 1702 - 1722, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmech.2017.10.066
  6. Aldilla VR; Martin AD; Nizalapur S; Marjo CE; Rich AM; Ho KKK; Ittner LM; Black DSC; Thordarson P; Kumar N, 2018, 'Glyoxylamide-based self-assembly hydrogels for sustained ciprofloxacin delivery', Journal of Materials Chemistry B, vol. 6, pp. 6089 - 6098, http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C8TB01290C
  7. Chen R, Willcox MDP, Ho KKK, Smyth D, Kumar N. 2016. Antimicrobial peptide melimine coating for titanium and its in vivo antibacterial activity in rodent subcutaneous infection models. Biomaterials. 85: 142-51
  8. Nizalapur S, Ho KKK, Kimyon O, Yee E, Berry T, Manefield M, Cranfield CG, Willcox MDP, Black DStC, Kumar N, (2016) Design, synthesis and evaluation of N-arylglyoxylamides derivatives as structurally novel bacterial quorum sensing inhibitors, Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, 14:3623-3637.
  9. Ho KKK, Chen R, Willcox MDP, Rice SA, Cole N, Iskander G, Kumar N. (2014) Quorum sensing inhibitory activities of surface immobilized antibacterial dihydropyrrolones via click chemistry, Biomaterials, 35:2336-2345
  10. Kutty SK, Barraud N, Pham A, Iskander G, Rice SA, Black DStC, Kumar N. (2013) Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Fimbrolide-Nitric Oxide Donor Hybrids as Antimicrobial Agents, J Med Chem. 56:9517-9529  

For a full list of publications please see: