Dr. Charles Lochenie studied Chemistry at the University of Louvain in Belgium, completing both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees before pursuing a PhD in Chemistry at the University of Bayreuth. After his PhD, he joined the University of Strasbourg as a postdoc, investigating luminescent peptides to model protein misfolding and aggregation in amyloid diseases.
He joined the Translational Health Technologies (THT) team led by Prof Kev Dhaliwal as a chemist to establish the Healthcare Technology Accelerator Facility (HTAF) chemistry lab, where his expertise in peptides and fluorescent dyes was essential. In 2023, he became Translational Chemistry Manager at the Pandemic Science Hub, leading chemistry projects and managing the laboratories.
MicroTex
At MicroTex, Dr. Charles Lochenie leads Work Package 3: Medicinal Chemistry. While other teams develop cutting-edge medical devices for drug delivery, his work ensures there are actually drugs worth delivering. Together with Tomas Deingruber, he produces pharmaceutical assets—both new compounds and repurposed existing drugs—designed for microdosing in the lungs and cornea, MicroTex’s two target organs.
Why Chemistry Matters for MicroTex
While developing innovative medical devices is essential, MicroTex’s microdosing approach must work within clinical and regulatory reality. Dr. Charles Lochenie’s role is to ensure that the pharmaceutical assets used won’t create regulatory obstacles while remaining competitive with current research. His work bridges the gap between cutting-edge device technology and the practical requirements of drug development, ensuring that when MicroTex’s platforms are ready, they have safe, effective compounds ready to test. And if along the way the team discovers new drugs that outperform existing treatments, that’s a valuable bonus.