Associate Professor Bernard Flynn

About Bernard Flynn

Associate Professor Bernard Flynn finds new treatments for disease by straddling the boundary between chemistry and biology.

Using small molecules as probes, Bernard can find promising biological sites for treatment and get clues about the chemistry needed to target the site. Together with co-workers, he has produced many promising drug leads for the treatment of cancer, liver disease, multiple sclerosis and anxiety. Some of these drugs have proceeded to clinical trials.

Currently, Bernard’s team at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Science is working on treating chronic kidney disease, liver disease and heart failure. They are targeting enzymes involved in the biological processes that lead to organ failure in the course of these conditions. Bernard works at the interface of chemistry and biology.

He believes that the convention of separating the disciplines into distinct silos is counterproductive for drug discovery. He sees this separation as a major hurdle for innovation in this space. Through his work, he hopes to promote chemical biology as a creative, useful tool for creating the medicines of the future.

Bernard is the Co-Director of the Australian Translational Medicinal Chemistry Facility and Founder and CEO of Cincera Therapeutics. A member of the RACI since 1997, he has served as Treasurer and committee member on the RACI Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology Division.