Graduate Student (PhD) | Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow
Advisor: Prof. Gonçalo Bernardes

Unnikrishnan V. B is a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge, specialising in chemical biology. His research focuses on advancing bioorthogonal chemistry, with an emphasis on designing targeted bond-cleavage reactions for tumour-selective drug activation (News, Dept. of Chemistry). As an undergraduate student advised by Prof. Rai, he worked on the development of a covalent affinity tag for protein purification, commercialised via start-up company – Plabeltech.

Unnikrishnan's academic journey has been distinguished by prestigious honours, including the Marie Sklodowska-Curie ITN Fellowship, DAAD WISE Scholarship (German Academic Exchange Service), Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS) Research Fellowship, and the INSPIRE Fellowship awarded by the Government of India.

Publications:

1. Unnikrishnan, V. B.; Sabatino, V.; Amorim, F.; Estrada, M. F.; Navo, C. D.; Jimenez-Oses, G.; Fior, R.; Bernardes, G. J. L. Gold (III)-Induced Amide Bond Cleavage In Vivo: A Dual Release Strategy via π-acid Catalysed Allyl Substitution. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 23240-2325. (DOI)

2. Chauhan, P.; Ragendu, V.; Kumar, M.; Molla, R.; Unnikrishnan, V. B.; Rai, V. Disintegration theory enabling precision engineering of proteins. ACS Cent. Sci. 2023, 9, 137-150. (DOI)

3. Sebatino, V.; Unnikrishnan, V. B.; Bernardes, G. J. L. Transition metal mediated bioorthogonal release. Chem Catal. 2022, 2, 39-51. (DOI)

4. Purushottam, L; Unnikrishnan, V. B.; Gujrati, M.; Adusumalli, S.; Rawale, D. G.; Mishra, R. K.; Rai, V. Single amino acid Gly-tag enables metal-free protein purification. Chem. Sci. 2020, 11, 13137-13142. (DOI)
   (Equal first-author contribution)
   (Part of themed collection: Most Popular 2019-2020 Chemical Biology Articles of Chem. Sci)
   (Gly-Tag^® purification resin @Plabeltech)

5. Oliveira, B. L.; Stenton, B. J.; Unnikrishnan, V. B.;, Conde, J.; Almeida, C.; Negr ̃ao, M.; Ferreira, M. G.; Caramori, G. F.; Domingos, J. B.; Fior, R.; Bernardes, G. J. L. Platinum-triggered bond cleavage of pentynoyl amide and N-propargyl handles for drug activation in vivo. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 24, 10869–10880. (DOI)
   (Featured as the supplementary cover page for the Journal of American Chemical Society)

6. Purushottam, L.; Adusumalli, S.; Singh, U.; Unnikrishnan, V. B.; Rawale, D. G.; Gujrati, M.; Mishra, R. K.; Rai, V. Single-site glycine-specific labeling of proteins. Nat. Commun. 2019, 10, 1100-1103. (DOI)
   (Featured in Editors’ Highlights of Nature Communications)