Anna Win-Mason

Anna

Canadian Government Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Past Member)

 

  • 2008-2012 Ph.D. Thesis in Chemistry, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
    Supervised by Dr Mattie Timmer (VUW), Dr Bridget Stocker at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research and Dr Peter Tyler at Industrial Research Ltd (IRL). “The Synthesis of Azasugars Using an Iodine-mediated Carbamate Annulation”
  • 2001 First Class Honours Degree in Chemistry, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
    Supervised by Dr John Hoberg. “Methodology for the Synthesis of 1,2-Carbon Linked Oligosaccharides”
  • 1997-2000 Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

 

RESEARCH INTEREST

Controlling blood glucose levels is a critical factor in type II diabetes and obesity and it has been shown that the activity of human pancreatic alpha-amylase in the small intestine positively correlates to blood glucose levels after eating. Therefore, modulating the activity of human pancreatic alpha-amylase through the use of specific inhibitors would be of significant therapeutic value for the treatment of these debilitating diseases.

Montbretin A, a glycosylated flavonoid, is a highly potent selective inhibitor of human pancreatic alpha-amylase with great potential in treating diabetes. Due to the structural complexity of Montbretin A, however, its gram scale synthesis is likely to be challenging and time-consuming. Thus, my research focuses upon the design and synthesis of simplified analogues of Montbretin A that are still potent, specific inhibitors of human pancreatic alpha-amylase with the aim of producing cost-effective therapeutics for type II diabetes and obesity.

 

AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS

  • Canadian Government Postdoctoral Research Fellowship 2013
  • Victoria University of Wellington PhD Submission Scholarship 2012
  • Best Student Publication of the Year in Chemistry 2011
  • New Zealand Institute of Chemistry Travel Grant 2011
  • Travel Bursary – Queenstown Molecular Biology Tuberculosis Satellite 2010
  • Curtis-Gordon Research Scholarship in Chemistry 2010-12
  • Victoria University of Wellington PhD Scholarship 2009
  • Brightfuture Enterprise Scholarship 2008
  • New Zealand Institute of Chemistry 300 Level Prize 2000

 

PUBLICATIONS

  • Bridget L. Stocker;Seino A. K. Jongkees; Anna L. Win-Mason; Emma M. Dangerfield; Stephen G. Withers; Mattie, S. M. Timmer ‘The ‘mirror-image’ postulate as a guide to the selection and evaluation of pyrrolidines as α-l-fucosidase inhibitors’ Carbohydr. Res. 2013, 367, 29-32.
  • Bridget L. Stocker; Anna L. Win-Mason; Mattie, S. M. Timmer ‘I2-mediated Carbamate Annulation: Scope and Application in the Synthesis of Azasugars’ Carbohydr. Res. 2012, 356, 163-171.
  • Anna L. Win-Mason; Seino A. K. Jongkees; Stephen G. Withers; Peter C. Tyler; Mattie, S. M. Timmer; Bridget L. Stocker ‘Stereoselective Synthesis of Amino-imino-hexitols via Carbamate Annulation’ J. Org. Chem. 2011, 76, 9611–9621.
  • Anna L. Win-Mason; Emma M. Dangerfield; Peter C. Tyler; Bridget L. Stocker; Mattie, S. M. Timmer ‘Stereoselective Strecker and Carbamate Annulation Methodology for the Synthesis of 1-Amino-1,2,5-trideoxy-2,5-imino-l-iditol’ Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2011, 4008–4014.
  • Emma M. Dangerfield; Catherine H. Plunkett; Anna L. Win-Mason; Bridget L. Stocker; Mattie S. M. Timmer ‘Protecting-Group-Free Synthesis of Amines: Synthesis of Amines from Aldehydes via Reductive Elimination’ J. Org. Chem. 2010, 75, 16, 5470–5477.
  • Bridget L. Stocker; Emma M. Dangerfield; Anna L. Win-Mason; Gregory W. Haslett; Mattie S. M. Timmer ‘Recent Developments in the Synthesis of Pyrrolidine-Containing Iminosugars’ Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2010, 2010, 9, 1615–1637.
  • Emma M. Dangerfield;Anna L. Win-Mason;Mattie S. M. Timmer;Bridget L. Stocker ‘Tuberculosis drugs: Past, Present and Future’ ChemEd. NZ 2009, 116, 2–9.
  • Corin M. Storkey; Anna L. Win; John O. Hoberg ‘Synthesis of 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-benzyl-d-glucal on the gram scale. A convenient method for its facile synthesis and subsequent stereoselective cyclopropanation’ Carbohydr. Res. 2004, 339, 897–899.
  • Joanne B. Hart; Lars Kröger; Andrew Falshaw; Ruth Falshaw; Erzsébet Farkas.; Joachim Thiem.; Anna L Win ‘Enzyme-catalysed synthesis of galactosylated 1d- and 1l-chiro-inositol, 1d-pinitol, myo-inositol and selective derivatives using the β-galactosidase from the thermophile Thermoanaerobacter sp. strain TP6-B1’ Carbohydr. Res. 2004, 339, 1857–1871.