Dr. Rok Frlan

Rok graduated in pharmacy from the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Pharmacy (Slovenia) in 2004. He received his Ph.D. in 2009 in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, under the supervision of Prof. Slavko Pečar. His doctoral thesis focused on the design, synthesis and testing of small molecule inhibitors of Mur to investigate their potential as antibacterial agents. During his postdoctoral studies (2009-2010) at the Université Paris Descartes (France), he worked with Christine Gravier-Pelletier on the synthesis of bacterial MraY transferase inhibitors. He has also acted as Assistant Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Faculty of Pharmacy, College of Ljubljana (2016-2020). Rok's research includes medicinal chemistry of antibacterial compounds, organic synthesis and machine learning. In teaching, he leads experimental practices in medicinal chemistry and instrumental pharmaceutical chemistry. He was recognized in 2004 with two Krka awards for his work on the design and synthesis of Ag85C inhibitors as potential anti-tuberculosis drugs. In 2009, he received a special award for research on MurC and D inhibitors. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia awarded the Golden Prize for Innovation in 2016 in recognition of Rok's pioneering work on the green and efficient synthesis of sitagliptin.