Educational Background

• MA, DPhil, Oxford University (1974-1980)
• Postdoctoral: NATO Fellow, Strasbourg, France (1980/81)

Current Research Interests

• Functional probes for imaging and sensing, using luminescence, EPR, MRS and MRI ; coordination complexes and conjugates; chiral probes and targeting.

Career and Research Profile

David Parker spent over fifty years living in the North-East of England. Born in County Durham, he graduated with a First Class degree in Chemistry from Oxford University in 1978. He gained a D.Phil. in 1980, working with John M Brown FRS in the Dyson Perrins Laboratory on the mechanism of asymmetric catalysis using organo-rhodium complexes. In late 1980, he took up a NATO Fellowship to study with Jean-Marie Lehn in Strasbourg, returning to Durham in January 1982 to a Lectureship in Chemistry, with promotion to a Chair in 1992. He enjoyed a 40-year academic career at Durham, serving as the Chairman of Durham Chemistry on two occasions, and was on the UK RAE Panel in 2008. Today, 36 of his former PhDs and post-doctoral assistants hold leading academic positions around the world. He was elected FRS in 2002, aged 45.
His research has ranged widely over the design, synthesis and mode of action of targeted probes and sensors using luminescence and magnetic resonance. In addition he has studied both d and f block metal coordination chemistry, as well as some key contributions to chiral NMR analysis. In particular, he developed families of metal complexes and bioconjugates that bind reversibly or react selectively, examining their behaviour in vitro and in cellulo, prior to in vivo applications. He holds over 25 licensed patents and has published over 400 articles, (h = 86).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Parker_(chemist)

Selected Publications