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Prof Amos Fatokun

Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences

Faculty of Science

Email: A.A.Fatokun@ljmu.ac.uk

Telephone: 0151 904 6291

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Professor Amos Akintayo Fatokun is Professor of Pharmacology and Neuroscience within the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences and the Pharmacology Section Lead as well as Communications Lead for Liverpool John Moores University's Centre for Natural Products Discovery (CNPD).

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL DEGREES:
Professor Fatokun trained as a pharmacist at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, graduating with a BPharm (with Distinction - the highest classification) and as the best student in the final Clinical Pharmacology course (module), before he studied between 2003 and 2006 for a PhD in Pharmacology and Neuroscience at the University of Glasgow, UK. He achieved a rare feat in his PhD viva of passing without any corrections and the PhD was completed in record time (under 3 years) (thesis title: “Oxidative Stress and the Viability of Osteoblasts and Cerebellar Granule Neurones,” with Professors Trevor W. Stone and Robert A. Smith as supervisors). The thesis received a further accolade as runner-up (close second) of the British Neuroscience Association's (BNA) Prize for the best Neuroscience PhD in the UK in 2006.

He holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice (PGCHEP) and is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH (MOSTLY FUNDED BY COMPETITIVE FELLOWSHIPS):
Professor Fatokun conducted postdoctoral research with the aid of competitive fellowships, each obtained at first attempt, at several prestigious institutions across the world:

2011 – 2013: EU FP7 Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship (IIF) (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IIF; Project Reference Number 274177), Institute of Cell Signalling, Queen’s Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, UK (with Professor Stephen J. Hill as host/mentor).

2010 – 2012: Nottingham Advanced Research Fellowship (NARF), Institute of Cell Signalling, Queen’s Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, UK (with Professor Stephen J. Hill as host/mentor).

2010-2010: International Visiting Research Fellowship (IVRF), University of Sydney, Australia (with Professor Nick H. Hunt as host).

2007 – 2010: American Heart Association (AHA) Postdoctoral Fellowship (best applicant in the round for the Mid-Atlantic Affiliate Region), Neuroregeneration and Stem Cells Programs, Institute for Cell Engineering, and the Department of Neurology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA (with Professors Ted M. Dawson and Valina L. Dawson as host/mentors).

2006 – 2007: University of Glasgow, UK (postdoc funded by Epsom Medical Research, UK, with Professor Trevor W. Stone, Dr Gail L. Darlington and Professor Robert A. Smith as mentors).

LECTURESHIPS (FACULTY POSITIONS):
In 2013 he secured a lectureship in Pharmacology at the School of Pharmacy, University of Bradford, UK, followed in 2014 by a lectureship in Medical Sciences within the School of Medical Sciences of the same institution. In October 2016 he was appointed a Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology at Liverpool John Moores University, was promoted to a Reader (Associate Professor) in August 2021 and to Full Professor of Pharmacology and Neuroscience in August 2023.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Professor Fatokun's research focusses on elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying disease conditions characterised by either excessive cell death, e.g., neurodegenerative diseases (such as Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease), or impaired cell death (such as cancers), with a view to harnessing the knowledge to develop novel therapeutics that will be more efficacious and elicit less side effects in managing those conditions. He uses state-of-the-art methodologies in pharmacology, physiology, biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, imaging, structural biology (through collaboration) and bioinformatics (through collaboration). He currently has collaborations with colleagues in the UK, Finland, South Africa and Nigeria.

His work is significantly translational (bench to bedside) and to some degree captures a wider context beyond cell death perturbations to assist in developing and optimising phenotypic- and target-based assays for high-throughput screening (HTS) of small molecules to identify those acting at a (druggable) molecular target of interest.

In summary, his current research interests include:
(1) Exploring cellular and molecular mechanisms of cell death in neurodegeneration.
(2) Oxidative stress (and nitrosative stress) and antioxidant signalling, including the Nrf2/ARE signalling pathway.
(3) Prospecting for novel anti-cancer drug leads.
(4) Development and optimisation of phenotypic and target-based assays for high-throughput screening (HTS) of chemical libraries (for various drug targets), HTS and compound characterisation/optimisation.
(5) Development of novel screening platforms and technologies, including the use of 3D cell culture models, stem cells and patient-derived cells.
(6) Natural products pharmacology and toxicology.
(7) Drug repurposing/repositioning.
(8) Use of fluorescent ligands to study novel pharmacology.

EXAMPLES OF CURRENT RESEARCH:
1. Investigating poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-dependent cell death, otherwise termed (and more recently known as) parthanatos, and developing novel, natural-compound or natural compound-inspired synthetic, PARP inhibitors or inhibitors acting at specific levels of the parthanatos pathway. PARP is a nuclear enzyme that senses DNA damage and thus helps to efficiently repair single-strand DNA nicks and breaks. It therefore contributes to the maintenance of cellular homoeostasis and the preservation of genomic stability under physiological conditions. However, its excessive activation, seen in pathological states, such as those of neurodegenerative diseases, can, and does, engender cell death, which explains its role in their pathophysiology. To date, PARP is known to exist in 17 different isoforms, although PARP-1 is the most widely-studied. Parthanatos as a cell death pathway is highly choreographed and distinct from apoptosis, necrosis and other forms of cell death, sequentially featuring overactivation of the enzyme PARP, the production of a prodigious amount of its polymer, poly (ADP-ribose) (PAR) and PAR-induced translocation to the nucleus of the mitochondrially-localised apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF), which when it enters the nucleus causes large-scale DNA fragmentation and chromatin condensation, culminating in parthanatic cell death.

Inhibitors of PARP can be developed and used, at least, as:
(i) Anti-cancer agents, especially for cancers that harbour mutations in the tumour-suppressor genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 (e.g., some breast, ovarian, cervical and prostate cancers). Current examples in the clinic include olaparib, rucaparib and niraparib (the drugs cause cancer cells to die through the process of synthetic lethality). PARP inhibitors can also be used in cancers without such mutations to sensitise the cancer cells to other anti-cancer agents, thus potentiating their cancer cell-killing effect (with the benefit that the dose of the other anti-cancer agent can be reduced), or to combat chemoresistance (preventing cancer cells from becoming resistant to anti-cancer agents that they have been previously sensitive to).

(ii) Neuroprotective agents: neurones can be rescued from death through blockade of parthanatos, preferably at some point(s) downstream of PARP activation, e.g., blockers of AIF translocation from the mitochondria to the nucleus.

We have identified some natural-compound inhibitors of PARP that ameliorate or prevent parthanatos and are neuroprotective. We are continuing to search for, and characterise, further novel inhibitors of parthanatos.

2. Natural compounds eliciting novel biological activities: Natural compounds maintain a pride of place in drug discovery, represent a unique inspiration for synthesis of novel bioactive molecules and demonstrate significant chemical diversity that affords an extensive exploration of the chemical space. Dr Fatokun explores medicinal plants for novel bioactivities, working with medicinal and synthetic chemists to advance the plants’ promising chemical constituents to drug leads, which, if sufficiently drug-like, could be further progressed in the drug development pipeline.

Compounds or their synthetic derivatives are tested for biological activities, potency, target selectivity, safety or tolerability profiles, physico-chemical parameters governing drug-likeness, etc.

3. Oxidative stress signalling: Professor Fatokun investigates oxidative stress and anti-oxidant signalling, especially in neurodegeneration, and the mechanisms of action of known or putative antioxidants, including their modulation of the Nrf2-ARE pathway.

PUBLICATIONS, AWARDS, PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Professor Fatokun has published several papers in leading international journals (for further details, click the tab on 'Publications') and won several awards for the quality and impact of his work, including recognition as runner-up (close second) for the British Neuroscience Association's (BNA) Prize for the best Neuroscience PhD in the UK in 2006, the Pfizer Prize for best oral communication at the Pfizer Colloquium of the International Annual Meeting of the UK Biochemical Society, and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) Young Investigator Scholarship.

He is an Ambassador of the British Pharmacological Society (BPS) and a UK STEM Ambassador. He also engages in outreaches and activities in science communication.

He is a Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society (FBPhS) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). He is also a member of The Physiological Society (PhySoc) and the Biochemical Society.

He regularly reviews manuscripts for several international journals and research grant applications for a number of national and international funding agencies.

He organises and/or delivers academic workshops in several countries, for example, through the Newton Fund and the Researcher Connect Schemes of the British Council (UK) (workshops in Thailand, China, Brazil, Kazakhstan, etc.). He is passionate in leading research capacity building initiatives in the developing countries of the world, and in this regard has given several impactful lectures and seminars and/or led research or professional career development sessions in Africa, Asia and South America through visits to universities and other research establishments and also through delivering invited talks at conferences. He is a visiting academic to some of the institutions.

He has supervised/mentored undergraduate and postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows (and continues to do so), some of whom have subsequently obtained prestigious research funding and/or published papers of significant impact.

ENQUIRIES:
Professor Fatokun is willing to consider enquiries on participating in/hosting/facilitating:

- Research collaborations
- PhD studies (studentships, scholarships, self-funded), either on a full-time, part-time or split-site basis
- Postdoctoral research, including through competitive fellowships
- Visiting research, summer placements, research experience placements, etc.
- Training in research methods and research-related soft skills development (including research grant writing, manuscript writing, science communication, etc.)
- Conference talks, institutional seminars, etc.
- Professional development sessions
- Research capacity development initiatives
- Industrial-academic partnerships
- STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Engagements
- Science communication outreaches and activities
- Any other relevant scholastic and professional engagements

CURRENT AND RECENT AREAS OF TEACHING:
Receptor pharmacology; Central Nervous System (CNS) pharmacology, including mechanisms of cell death in the CNS; Pharmacogenetics and personalised medicines; Adverse drug reactions (ADRs); Clinical trials; Liver and renal clearances; Respiratory physiology and cardiovascular physiology; Personal and professional development.

ORCID: 0000-0001-5183-7589
ResearcherID (Web of Science): T-7918-2017
Scopus Author ID: 14053823100

Degrees

2016, University of Bradford, United Kingdom, PGCHEP (Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice)
2006, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom, PhD
2000, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, BPharm (Bachelor of Pharmacy) with Distinction

Certifications

2016, The Higher Education Academy, UK, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Academic appointments

Professor of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, 2023 - present
Reader (Associate Professor) in Pharmacology and Neuroscience, School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, 2021 - 2023
Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, 2016 - 2021
Lecturer in Medical Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Bradford, 2014 - 2016
Lecturer in Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Bradford, 2013 - 2014

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