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
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)
- 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
- Kuppusamy R; Willcox M; Black DSC; Kumar N, 2019, 'Short cationic peptidomimetic antimicrobials', Antibiotics, vol. 8, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics8020044
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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.
- 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
- 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:
- Google Scholar https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=yCcc5PEAAAAJ