Staff Profile

Dr Othman Al Musaimi assumed the role of Lecturer in Medicinal Chemistry at the School of Pharmacy in September 2023. Before joining this position, he worked as a Research Associate at Imperial College London. Dr Al Musaimi holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa. His research interests primarily revolve around the development of synthetic, greening, separation, and purification methodologies for peptides.

Professional Affiliations

• Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
• Honorary Associate Fellow.
• Translational and Clinical Research Institute Fellow.
• Community Associate, ACS.
• UKRI Talent Peer Review College Member.
• European Peptide Society (EPS).
• Royal Society of Chemistry Affiliate.
• American Peptide Society (APS).

Academic roles

• Academic Lead for Peer Mentoring.
• Duputy Admissions Tutor.

Othman's research interests center on developing innovative methodologies for the synthesis, separation, and purification of peptides, as well as engineering peptides for therapeutic and aesthetic applications.

Funds

• 2024

1. RSC Researcher Development and Travel Grant
2. Co-PI: Adventurous Manufacturing Grant - Round 3: EPSRC
3. PI: Research Excellence Development Award: Newcastle University

• 2023   

1. PI: Seed Fund: Imperial College London
2. PI: Deep Technology Prime: Imperial College London

• 2021

1. Co-I: Julia Higgins Engineering Postdoc Collaborative Research Fund: Imperial College London

• 2022

1. PI: Dame Julia Higgins Engineering Postdoc Collaborative Research Fund: Imperial College London

• 2015

1. PI: Research & Development Grant: King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST)

Awards

1. Winner: Emerging Technologies Competetion 2024 - Enabling Technologies Category - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
2. Winner: Unsung Heroes - Advancement of Knowledge - C-DICE, the Centre for Postdoctoral Development in Infrastructure Cities and Energy
3. Travel Grant Winner: 28^th American Peptide Symposium. Peptide at the Frontier. Scottsdale, AZ – June 24 – 29, 2023. 
4. Winner: Creating a Positive Research Environment - Imperial College London
5. Winner: Departmental Team Gold Award - Department of Chemical Engineering - Imperial College London
6. Travel Grant Winner: 27^th American Peptide Symposium. Peptide Science at the Summit. Whistler, BC – June 11 – 16, 2022

MPharm Students

1. Hannah Stephenson: Non-invasive Therapy for Soft Tissue Reconstruction - Aesthetic Applications
2. Carys Hockley: Peptide-Based Hydrogels as Novel Systems for Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA)
3. Olivia Killen: Delivering Cell Penetrating Peptides Non-Invasively into the Brain to Target Glial-Related Brain Diseases and as Antimicrobial Agents

MRes Students

• Amabella Lim: Non-invasive Therapy for Soft Tissue Reconstruction - Therapeutic Applications
• Pallavi Gupta: Peptide-based Drug for Microneedles Applications

Connect

Google Scholar Research Gate LinkedIn Al Musaimi's Research Group

Stage 1

• Acid-base 1-2
• Acid-base 3-4
• Thermodynamics 1
• Thermodynamics 2
• Thermodynamics 3
• Volumetric Titrations
• Synthesis of Paracetamol
• Hydrolysis of Aspirin

Stage 2

• Antibiotic Chemistry
• Antibiotic Chemistry Seminar
• Drug Likeness and Druggability
• Case study - GI drugs
• Physicochemical Properties 1
• Physicochemical Properties 2
• Case study - Salbutamol / Salmeterol
• Mini Project Tutorial 2
• Synthesis of Sulfonamides

Stage 3

• Chemistry of Sildenafil: case study

Stage 4

• Mechanistic basis of antibacterial therapy
• Antibacterial chemistry seminar
• Mechanistic basis of chemotherapy 1
• Mechanistic basis of chemotherapy 2
• Mechanistic basis of chemotherapy 3
• PARP inhibitors
• Chemotherapy chemistry seminar
• Development of TKIs

• Articles

  • Al Musaimi O. FDA-Approved Antibacterials and Echinocandins. Antibiotics 2025, 14(2), 166.
  • Al Musaimi O, Alshaer D, de la Torre BG, Albericio F. 2024 FDA TIDES (Peptides and Oligonucleotides) Harvest. Pharmaceuticals 2025, 18(3), 291.
  • Al Musaimi O. Unlocking the Potential of Retro-Inverso (RI) Peptides as Future Drug Candidates. International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics 2024, 30, 56.
  • Al Musaimi O, Tomkins J, Barry SM, Basso A, Kou X, Zhang C, Serban S. Towards Green, Scalable Peptide Synthesis: Leveraging DEG-Crosslinked Polystyrene Resins to Overcome Hydrophobicity Challenges. RSC Advances 2024, 54.
  • Zulfiqar N, Nadeem R, Al Musaimi O. Photocatalytic Degradation of Antibiotics via Exploitation of a Magnetic Nanocomposite: A Green Nanotechnology Approach toward Drug-Contaminated Wastewater Reclamation. ACS Omega 2024, 9(7), 7986-8004.
  • Al Musaimi O. Peptide Therapeutics: Unveiling the Potential against Cancer—A Journey through 1989. Cancers 2024, 16(5), 1032.
  • Al Musaimi O. Oligonucleotides: evolution and innovation. Medicinal Chemistry Research 2024, 33, 2204–2220.
  • Al Musaimi O. Lasso Peptides Realm: Insights and Applications. Peptides 2024, 182, 171317.
  • Al Musaimi O. FDA's stamp of approval: Unveiling peptide breakthroughs in cardiovascular diseases, ACE, HIV, CNS, and beyond. Journal of Peptide Science 2024, 30(11), e3627.
  • Al Musaimi, O. Exploring FDA-Approved Frontiers: Insights into Natural and Engineered Peptide Analogues in the GLP-1, GIP, GHRH, CCK, ACTH, and α-MSH Realms. Biomolecules 2024, 14(3), 264.
  • Dickerson H, Diab A, Al Musaimi O. Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors in Cancer: Current Use and Future Prospects. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2024, 25(18), 10008.
  • Al Musaimi O, Ng KW, Gavva V, Valenzo OMM, Haroon HB, Williams DR. Elastin-Derived Peptide-Based Hydrogels as a Potential Drug Delivery System. Gels 2024, 10(8), 531.
  • Al Musaimi O, Jaradat Da’san M M. Advances in Therapeutic Peptides Separation and Purification. Separations 2024, 11(8), 233.
  • Al Musaimi O, Al Shaer D, Albericio F, de la Torre BG. 2023 FDA TIDES (Peptides and Oligonucleotides) Harvest. Pharmaceuticals 2024, 17(2), 243.
  • Al Musaimi O, Morse SV, Lombardi L, Serban S, Basso A, Williams DR. Successful synthesis of a glial-specific blood–brain barrier shuttle peptide following a fragment condensation approach on a solid-phase resin. Peptide Science 2023, 29(2), e3448.
  • Gavva V, Al Musaimi O, Bent C, Williams DR. Determining the Hydrophobicity Index of Protected Amino Acids and Common Protecting Groups. Separations 2023, 10(8), 456.
  • Al Musaimi O, Gavva V, Williams DR. Greener Cleavage of Protected Peptide Fragments from Sieber Amide Resin. ChemistryOpen 2022, 11(12), e202200236.
  • Jaradat DMM, Al Musaimi O, Albericio F. Advances in solid-phase peptide synthesis in aqueous media (ASPPS). Green Chemistry 2022, 24(17), 6360-6372.
  • Al Musaimi O, Wisdom R, Talbiersky P, de la Torre BG, Albericio F. Propylphosphonic Anhydride (T3P®) as Coupling Reagent for Solid-Phase Peptide Synthesis. ChemistrySelect 2021, 6(11), 2649-2657.
  • Al Musaimi O, Al Shaer D, Albericio F, de la Toree BG. 2020 FDA TIDES (Peptides and Oligonucleotides) Harvest. Pharmaceuticals 2021, 14(2), 145.
  • Al Musaimi, O. Greening Fmoc/tBu solid-phase peptide synthesis. Green Chemistry 2020, 22, 996-1018.
  • Al Shaer D, Al Musaimi O, Albericio F, de la Toree B G. 2019 FDA TIDES (peptides and oligonucleotides) harvest. Pharmaceuticals 2019, 13(3), 40.

• Patents

  • Othman, Al. Solution Phase Peptide Synthesis. GB2409647.1, 2024. Submitted.
  • Al Musaimi O, Williams DR. Methods of Chemical Synthesis of Peptides. WO2024261319A1, 07/12/2024.
  • Al Musaimi O, Williams DR. Methods of Chemical Synthesis of Oligonucleotides. 2415649.9, 2024. Submitted.
  • Al Musaimi O, Williams D R. Methods of Chemical Synthesis of Peptides. UK, GB2312735.0, 2023. Submitted.

• Review

  • Diab A, Dickerson H, Al Musaimi O. Targeting the Heart of Mycobacterium: Advances in Anti-Tubercular Agents Disrupting Cell Wall Biosynthesis. Pharmaceuticals 2025, 18(1), 70.