27-10 2020 20:28
wrote:
I was truly saddened and shocked to receive these news. I only have the best memories and warmest thoughts about Chris. We had many contacts while I was at Cambridge from 2001-2005 and he became a good (senior) friend to me, with his strong interest in structural mass spectrometry and how biophysical techniques can be used to assess fragment binding. I got to know members of his group and colleagues at Astex really well, and Chris and his group were always welcoming and open to new ideas. I almost ended up running a marathon with him (the Cambridge boundary route) while I was training for one and he had just taken up the habit - but in the end it was only a shorter jog as I had moved back to Oxford then. But we stayed somewhat in touch, and it was great catching up with him and Tom Blundell at Ale's and Stefania's wedding in Rome. More recently, just a few weeks ago in June, we chatted a bit online after the PhD viva of one of this students about the exciting possibilities of bringing high-throughput native MS finally into the field of drug discovery, and that fragment based screens are possible after all (as the PhD thesis demonstrated very impressively). He promised me a beer next time I was at Cambridge, and talked about his plans what he might do next after his stint at PVC was coming to an end. Sadly enough I couldn't catch up with him in person in June due to Covid, but we had agreed to make up for that soon. What a loss, and what a shock to lose such a valued person. Our only consolation might be that it happened (hopefully) quick, and at home with his dear wife by his side.
27-10 2020 20:28
wrote:
I was truly saddened and shocked to receive these news. I only have the best memories and warmest thoughts about Chris. We had many contacts while I was at Cambridge from 2001-2005 and he became a good (senior) friend to me, with his strong interest in structural mass spectrometry and how biophysical techniques can be used to assess fragment binding. I got to know members of his group and colleagues at Astex really well, and Chris and his group were always welcoming and open to new ideas. I almost ended up running a marathon with him (the Cambridge boundary route) while I was training for one and he had just taken up the habit - but in the end it was only a shorter jog as I had moved back to Oxford then. But we stayed somewhat in touch, and it was great catching up with him and Tom Blundell at Ale's and Stefania's wedding in Rome. More recently, just a few weeks ago in June, we chatted a bit online after the PhD viva of one of this students about the exciting possibilities of bringing high-throughput native MS finally into the field of drug discovery, and that fragment based screens are possible after all (as the PhD thesis demonstrated very impressively). He promised me a beer next time I was at Cambridge, and talked about his plans what he might do next after his stint at PVC was coming to an end. Sadly enough I couldn't catch up with him in person in June due to Covid, but we had agreed to make up for that soon. What a loss, and what a shock to lose such a valued person. Our only consolation might be that it happened (hopefully) quick, and at home with his dear wife by his side.
