Dr Alan M Jones PhD, BSc (Hons), MRSC, PGCert, FHEA

Dr Alan Jones

School of Pharmacy
Associate Professor in Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0)121 414 7288
Email
a.m.jones.2@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
@dralanjones
View my research portal
Address
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr Alan Jones is an Associate Professor in Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry in the School of Pharmacy, within the School of Health Sciences. His research interests focus on the application of synthetic and medicinal chemistry to solve challenges at the intersection of biology and drug discovery for patient benefit. Key topics include:

  • The development of advanced, novel drug molecules for the treatment of leukaemia.
  • The investigation of electrochemical methods as an enabling technology to identify drug metabolites
  • The use of chemical, pharmacological and adverse drug reaction large datasets to identify and predict drug liabilities in the patient populations
  • The use of our commercialised reagent, tributylsulfoammonium betaine (TBSAB) for advanced sulfation studies (https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/GB/en/product/aldrich/911992 and https://store.apolloscientific.co.uk/product/tributylsulfoammonium-betaine)
  • Alan leads on several Senior Department, College and University roles to enhance good governance within the University:
  • Chairman of the School of Health Sciences Health and Safety Committee
  • College Chemical Safety Officer
  • CMH Health and Safety Management Committee (HSMC) member
  • CMH lead for the University’s Health & Safety Advisory Group (UHSAG)

Alan has a wealth of experience of teaching and external examining at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Qualifications

Associate Professor in Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry:

  •  Certificate in External Examining 2023
  • PG Cert 2016
  • FHEA 2016
  • Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2009
  • Ph.D. (St Andrews), 2009
  • BSc. Hons (Aberdeen), 2005

Teaching

Postgraduate supervision

The Jones Research Group delivers internationally funded, multidisciplinary research at the forefront of chemical biology and drug discovery. Our work develops enabling chemical technologies that drive therapeutic innovation from fundamental science to translational application. Supported by major funders including the Wellcome Trust, UK Medical Research Council, Royal Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, British Council, Children with Cancer UK, and industry partners, the group operates within a strong global collaborative network. Our research spans: Electrosynthetic and late-stage functionalisation strategies for drug metabolites; Synthetic innovation in sulfated bioactive molecules and peptides; Mechanism-led drug discovery programmes in oncology, neurological and cardiovascular disease (EAAT1, EGFR/HER2, HGF–cMET); Polypharmacology and the molecular basis of adverse drug reactions and real-world toxicity. Dr Jones has authored 100+ peer-reviewed publications and media contributions, holds 3 patents, and has contributed 2 book chapters. He co-received the Healthcare Science Excellence Prize (2016) and is recognised by Stanford-Elsevier ranking as top 2% in the world (2025).
PhD candidates with ambition to work at the cutting edge of chemistry-led drug discovery are encouraged to enquire.

Other activities

External expert/ Grant Reviewer (UK):

  • British Council Newton Fund
  • EPSRC
  • Rosetrees Trust
  • KidScan Cancer charity
  • Parkinson’s UK
  • University of Bradford
  • Oxford University Press

External expert/ Grant Reviewer (International)

  • External Reviewer for University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (2016-present)
  • External Reviewer for Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale, France (2018-present).
  • Poland National Science Council, Warsaw (2022-present).
  • Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, KSA (2023-present)

Journal Peer Reviewer

ACS, RSC, Wiley and Elsevier journal titles including:

  • Chemical Communications
  • Chemistry A European Journal
  • Advanced Synthesis & Catalysis
  • ChemSusChem
  • Journal of Organic Chemistry
  • ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering

Editorial roles

Molecules MDPI – Organic Chemistry section editor 2019-2022

External PhD examiner

  • University of Nottingham (UK)
  • University of Cardiff (UK)
  • Manchester Metropolitan University (UK)

External UG programme examiner

  • University of Cardiff (Wales, UK) 2022-2026
  • University of Sunderland (England, UK) 2020-2024

Consultancy / Knowledge Transfer roles

  • Novartis
  • Merck Sigma-Aldrich
  • Apollo Scientific

Societies

Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC)

Publications

Highlight publications

Ramos, DLO, Crapnell, RD, Asra, R, Bernalte, E, Oliveira, A, Muñoz, RAA, Richter, EM, Jones, AM & Banks, CE 2024, 'Conductive Polypropylene Additive Manufacturing Feedstock: Application to Aqueous Electroanalysis and Unlocking Nonaqueous Electrochemistry and Electrosynthesis', ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, vol. 16, no. 41, pp. 56006−56018. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c12967

Asra, R & Jones, AM 2024, 'Electrochemical Synthesis of Purine Alkaloid Metabolites from Caffeine', ChemElectroChem, vol. 11, no. 24, e202400439. https://doi.org/10.1002/celc.202400439

Asra, R, Malmakova, AE & Jones, AM 2024, 'Electrochemical Synthesis of the In Human S-oxide Metabolites of Phenothiazine-Containing Antipsychotic Medications', Molecules, vol. 29, no. 13, 3038. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29133038

Recent publications

Article

Roberts-Nuttall, J, Jones, AM, Castellani, M & Pham, D 2026, 'An interpretable machine learning framework for adverse drug reaction prediction from drug-target interactions', PLOS ONE, vol. 21, no. 1, e0340900. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0340900

Whorton, A, Osman, S, Johal, J, Baig, S, Jones, AM & Jalal, Z 2026, 'Prescribing Patterns and Adverse Effects of Semaglutide: A Real-World Comparative Evaluation', Healthcare, vol. 14, no. 1, 35. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare14010035

Tabrizi, L, Jones, AM, Romero-Canelon, I & Erxleben, A 2026, 'Triple-action Pt(IV) prodrugs of cisplatin and oxaliplatin with indole propionate and 4-phenylbutyrate ligands as potent anticancer agents', Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, vol. 276, 113183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2025.113183

Begum, R, Parsons, JL & Jones, AM 2025, 'Adverse Drug Reaction Profiles of Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors', Scientific Reports, vol. 15, no. 1, 35880. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-19717-w

Balasubramaniam, B & Jones, AM 2025, 'Observational suspected adverse drug reaction profiles of fluoro-pharmaceuticals and potential mimicry of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the United Kingdom', PLOS ONE, vol. 20, no. 9, e0331286. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0331286

Pono, P, Cheng, V, Skerrett, V & Jones, AM 2025, 'Post-marketing pharmacovigilance study of Darunavir in the United Kingdom: An analysis of adverse drug reactions reported to the MHRA', Pharmacoepidemiology, vol. 4, no. 4, 25. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharma4040025

Albalawi, FS, Bhat, MA, Bakheit, AH, Rahman, AFMM, Alsaif, NA, Jones, AM & Romero-Canelon, I 2025, 'Purine–Hydrazone Scaffolds as Potential Dual EGFR/HER2 Inhibitors', Pharmaceuticals, vol. 18, no. 7, 1051. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph18071051

Khan, M, Hirsch, C & Jones, AM 2025, 'Suspected Adverse Drug Reactions Associated with Leukotriene Receptor Antagonists Versus First Line Asthma Medications: A National Registry-Pharmacology Approach', Pharmacoepidemiology, vol. 4, no. 3, 18. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharma4030018

Abstract

Pono, P & Jones, A 2025, 'A Nationwide Post-Marketing Pharmacovigilance Study of Darunavir Employing Suspected Adverse Drug Reactions Submitted to the United Kingdom’s Yellow Card Scheme', Drug Safety, vol. 48, no. 12, 356, pp. 1600-1601. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40264-025-01605-x

Poster

Whorton, A, Osman, S, Baig, S, Johal, J, Jones, AM & Jalal, Z 2025, 'Prescribing Patterns and Adverse Drug Reactions associated with Semaglutide: A real-world evaluation from a socioeconomically deprived UK region', Great North Pharmacy Research Collaborative Conference 2025, Gateshead, United Kingdom, 18/07/25 - 18/07/25.

Whorton, A, Osman, S, Baig, S, Johal, J, Jones, AM & Jalal, Z 2025, 'Prescribing Patterns and Adverse Effects of Semaglutide: A real-world evaluation from a socioeconomically deprived UK region', Autumn Symposium of the European Society of Clinical Pharmacy in Grenoble, Grenoble, France, 26/11/25 - 28/11/25.

Preprint

Pono, P & Jones, AM 2026 'The Impact of Climate Change on Human Health and Pharmaceuticals' EarthArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31223/X51N21

Malmakova, A & Jones, AM 2025 'Synthetic Routes and Bioactivity Profiles of The Phenothiazine Privileged Manifold' ChemRxiv. https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-bd4pm

Review article

Aljead, M, Qashta, A, Jalal, Z & Jones, AM 2025, 'Metabolic and Endocrine ADRs of Atypical Antipsychotics (AAPs) in Paediatric Patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A Review of Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Implications for Clinical Monitoring', Journal of Clinical Medicine, vol. 14, no. 22, 7942. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14227942

Aljead, M, Qashta, A, Jalal, Z & Jones, AM 2025, 'Review of Autism spectrum disorder (ASD): Epidemiology, aetiology, pathology, and pharmacological treatment', Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland), vol. 18, no. 11, 1644. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph18111644

View all publications in research portal