Philip A. Gale received his BA (Hons) in 1992 and his MA and DPhil in 1995 from the University of Oxford before moving to the University of Texas at Austin where he spent two years as a Fulbright Scholar. In 1997 he returned to the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory at Oxford as a Royal Society University Research Fellow. He moved to a Lectureship at the University of Southampton in 1999 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2002, Reader in 2005 and to a Personal Chair in Supramolecular Chemistry in 2007. From 2010 - 2016, Phil served as the Head of Chemistry at Southampton. In 2014 he was awarded a Doctor of Science degree by the University of Oxford. In January 2017 he moved to the University of Sydney to take up the position of Professor of Chemistry and Head of the School of Chemistry. In October 2020 he took on the role of Associate Dean (International) in the Faculty of Science. Phil is the author or co-author of over 290 publications including an Oxford Chemistry Primer on Supramolecular Chemistry with Paul Beer and David Smith (1999) and an RSC Monograph in Supramolecular Chemistry entitled Anion Receptor Chemistry with Jonathan Sessler and Won-Seob Cho (2006). He is the co-editor in chief (with Jonathan Steed) of an eight-volume reference work published by Wiley entitled Supramolecular Chemistry: from molecules to nanomaterials and of the RSC's Monographs in Supramolecular Chemistry. Phil's research has been recognised by a number of research awards including a University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Award for Outstanding Research (2020), the 2018 International Izatt-Christensen Award in Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry, the RSC 2014 Supramolecular Chemistry Award, a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2013), the RSC Corday Morgan medal and prize (2005), the Society/Journal of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines Young Investigator Award (2004) and the RSC Bob Hay Lectureship (2004). He was listed by Thomson Reuters/Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher in chemistry from 2014 - 2019 and was highlighted by The Australian newspaper Research supplement (23rd September 2020) as an Australian Field Research Leader (Chemistry & Material Sciences (general)). In 2010 Phil was awarded a JSPS invitation fellowship that he took up at Kyushu University, Japan in 2011. In 2012 he was appointed as a Guest Professor by Xiamen University, China (2012-2014), giving the prestigious Tan Kah Kee chemistry lecture there in 2013. He was awarded a University of Canterbury Erskine Visiting Fellowship and spent two months in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2014. Phil is the Editor-in-Chief of Coordination Chemistry Reviews and the co-editor in chief of Supramolecular Chemistry. He also serves on the Editorial Board of Chem from Cell Press and Trends in Chemistry, a new review journal also published by Cell Press. Phil is a member of the Advisory Board of the RSC flagship journal Chemical Science and Chinese Chemical Letters. From 2005 to 2015 he was a member of the editorial board of Chemical Society Reviews serving as commissioning editor (2005-2011), Associate Editor for Supramolecular Chemistry (2011-2013) and Chair of the Editorial Board (2013-2015). Phil currently serves as the Chair of the Royal Society of New South Wales Awards Committee, is a member of the Royal Society of London's Newton International Fellowships Committee and of the ESF's College of Experts. He was a member of the management group of COST Action CM1005 Supramolecular Chemistry in Water. In 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 Phil served as a member of the ERC Consolidator Grant Panel (PE05). From 2004-2014 Phil was a member of the International Scientific Committee of the International Symposium on Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry (ISMSC) - he organised the 6th ISMSC meeting in the UK in 2011. Phil was a member of EPSRC College and served on France's ANR Laboratories of Excellence Jury in 2011 and 2012, the mid-term review in 2015 and the final review/extension panel in 2018. In 2014 and 2015 he was chair of the international judging panel for the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences for The Undergraduate Awards. In 2012 he was elected chair of the RSC Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry Group serving until the end of 2016.

Anions are ubiquitous in the Natural world. Chloride anions are present in large quantities in the oceans; nitrate and sulfate are present in acid rain; and carbonates in biomineralised materials. Anthropogenic anions including pertechnetate, a radioactive product of nuclear fuel reprocessing, and phosphate and nitrates from agriculture and other human activities, constitute major pollution hazards. Anions are also critical to the maintenance of life. Indeed, without exaggeration, the recognition, transport or transformation of anions is involved at some level in almost every conceivable biochemical operation. It is essential in the formation of the majority of enzyme–substrate and enzyme–cofactor complexes as well as in the interaction between proteins and RNA or DNA. ATP, phosphocreatine and other high-energy anionic phosphate derivatives, power processes as diverse and important as biosynthesis, molecular transport and muscle contraction while serving as the energy currency for a host of enzymatic transformations. Anion channels and carriers are involved in the transport of small anions such chloride, phosphate and sulfate and thus serve to regulate the flux of key metabolites into and out of cells while maintaining osmotic balance. Supramolecular chemistry is the area of chemistry involved with the control of molecular interactions to produce useful new devices and molecular assemblies. Our work in molecular recognition involves the design and synthesis of smart molecules for use as receptors or sensors for other ionic (in our group frequently anionic) or molecular species. Design is at the heart of our work – we are frequently inspired by biological systems – but are not limited by them – we ultimately design and make new molecules ourselves that allows us to explore a wide range of molecular geometries and functional groups (and is a lot of fun!). So, we can take a molecule from the drawing board through to use as a sensor, selective extraction agent or membrane transport agent for a particular chemical species. A wide range of skills are need to do this including synthesis and also the ability to study how molecules interact with each other using NMR and UV/vis spectroscopies, isothermal titration calorimetry and electrochemistry. We also study the structure of receptors and complexes in the solid state. Our specific interests are in the structural chemistry, selective recognition and transport of anionic species. Diseases like cystic fibrosis (CF) are caused by genetic problems with chloride channels in cell membranes in the lungs and in other organs. We’re designing molecules that can replace the function of these faulty channels and that might in the future be able to be used as ‘channel replacement therapies’ to ameliorate the symptoms of this disease in CF patients. We’re also studying how anion transport processes are coupled to other processes such as proton transport. We’ve found that compounds that can transport both chloride and protons cause apoptosis (programmed cell death) in cancer cells. We’re therefore also studying the anti-cancer properties of our anion transporters.

Williams, G., Haynes, C., Fares, M., Caltagirone, C., Hiscock, J., Gale, P. (2021). Advances in applied supramolecular technologies. Chemical Society Reviews, 50(4), 2737-2763. McNaughton, D., Fares, M., Picci, G., Gale, P., Caltagirone, C. (2021). Advances in fluorescent and colorimetric sensors for anionic species. Coordination Chemistry Reviews, 427, 213573. Wu, X., Macreadie, L., Gale, P. (2021). Anion binding in metal-organic frameworks. Coordination Chemistry Reviews, 432, 213708. Gale, P. (2020). A Calix[4]pyrrole-Based Selective Amino Acid Transporter. Chem, 6(11), 2873-2875. Chen, L., Berry, S., Wu, X., Howe, E., Gale, P. (2020). Advances in Anion Receptor Chemistry. Chem, 6(1), 61-141. Davis, J., Gale, P., Quesada, R. (2020). Advances in anion transport and supramolecular medicinal chemistry. Chemical Society Reviews, 49(16), 6056-6086. Hongyu, L., Valkenier, H., Thorne, A., Dias, C., Cooper, J., Kieffer, M., Busschaert, N., Gale, P., Sheppard, D., Davis, A. (2019). Anion carriers as potential treatments for cystic fibrosis: transport in cystic fibrosis cells, and additivity to channel-targeting drugs. Chemical Science, 10(42), 9663-9672. Chen, X., Lin, X., Wu, X., Gale, P., Anslyn, E., Jiang, Y. (2019). Design of Chiral Supramolecular Polymers Exhibiting a Negative Nonlinear Response. The Journal of Organic Chemistry, 84(22), 14587-14592. Howe, E., Gale, P. (2019). Fatty acid fueled transmembrane chloride transport. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 141(27), 10654-10660. Spooner, M., Gale, P. (2018). A tripodal tris-selenourea anion transporter matches the activity of its thio- analogue but shows distinct selectivity*. Supramolecular Chemistry, 30(5-6), 514-519. Gale, P., Howe, E., Wu, X., Spooner, M. (2018). Anion receptor chemistry: Highlights from 2016. Coordination Chemistry Reviews, 375, 333-372. Dias, C., Li, H., Valkenier, H., Karagiannidis, L., Gale, P., Sheppard, D., Davis, A. (2018). Anion transport by ortho-phenylene bis-ureas across cell and vesicle membranes. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, 16(7), 1083-1087. Busschaert, N., Park, S., Baek, K., Choi, Y., Park, J., Howe, E., Hiscock, J., Karagiannidis, L., Marques, I., Felix, V., et al (2017). A synthetic ion transporter that disrupts autophagy and induces apoptosis by perturbing cellular chloride concentrations. Nature Chemistry, 9(7), 667-675. Gale, P., Davis, J., Quesada, R. (2017). Anion transport and supramolecular medicinal chemistry. Chemical Society Reviews, 46(9), 2497-2519. Kitchen, J., Gale, P. (2017). Complexity of supramolecular assemblies. In F. Richard Keene (Eds.), Chirality in supramolecular assemblies: Causes and consequences, (pp. 94-141). West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons. Gale, P., Howe, E., Wu, X. (2016). Anion receptor chemistry. Chem, 1(3), 351-422. Clarke, H., Van Rossom, W., Horton, P., Light, M., Gale, P. (2016). Anion transport and binding properties of N,N1-(phenylmethylene)dibenzamide based receptors. Supramolecular Chemistry, 28(1-2), 10-17. Hiscock, J., Wells, N., Ede, J., Gale, P., Sambrook, M. (2016). Biasing hydrogen bond donating host systems towards chemical warfare agent recognition. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, 14(40), 9560-9567. Marti, I., Burguete, M., Gale, P., Luis, S. (2015). Acyclic Pseudopeptidic Hosts as Molecular Receptors and Transporters for Anions. European Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2015 (23), 5150-5158. Merckx, T., Haynes, C., Karagiannidis, L., Clarke, H., Holder, K., Kelly, A., Tizzard, G., Coles, S., Verwilst, P., Gale, P., et al (2015). Anion binding and transport properties of cyclic 2,6-bis(1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)pyridines. Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, 13(6), 1654-1661. Olivari, M., Montis, R., Karagiannidis, L., Horton, P., Mapp, L., Coles, S., Light, M., Gale, P., Caltagirone, C. (2015). Anion complexation, transport and structural studies of a series of bis-methylurea compounds. Dalton Transactions, 44(5), 2138-2149.,