Dr Tom A K Prescott

Research Leader

Department

Trait Diversity and Function

Team

Biological Chemistry

Specialism

Bioactive plants and fungi

Biography

I'm a biochemist working on biologically active secondary metabolites from plants and fungi, focussing on clinical trials of plant medicines and applications of antimicrobial compounds for agriculture.

At Kew I isolate plant and fungal metabolites and test them on human cells, bacteria, fungi, and arrays of yeast gene deletion strains to understand their biological effects and investigate their mechanisms of action. We are also currently working with machine learning tools to help predict of mechanism of action.

In Papua New Guinea I work with communities living in remote areas that lack access to basic medicines to research their traditional medicines. The aim is to identify a traditional plant medicine that can be used as a zero-cost and highly accessible first-line treatment for tropical ulcers. We recently completed a clinical trial of one such plant medicine revealing promising results and are now planning further clinical trials.

Qualifications and appointments

PhD, Univ. Edinburgh, 2005
BSc (Hons), Univ. Edinburgh, 1999

Projects

Ulcer Plants: Unlocking the Medicine Cabinet in Papua New Guinea

Searching for a clinically effective plant medicine to treat debilitating infected skin ulcers in remote areas of Papua New Guinea

Selected publications

Llewellyn T, Nowell RW, Aptroot A, Temina M, Prescott TAK, Barraclough TG, Gaya E. (2023)

Metagenomics Shines Light on the Evolution of "Sunscreen" Pigment Metabolism in the Teloschistales (Lichen-Forming Ascomycota).

Genome Biol Evol. Feb 3;15(2):evad002.

Prescott TAK, Anaissi-Afonso L, Fox KR, Maxwell A, Panaretou B, Machín F. (2022)

A simplified and easy-to-use HIP HOP assay provides insights into chalcone antifungal mechanisms of action.

FEBS Lett. Dec;596(23):3087-3102.

Deli J, González-Beiras C, Guldan GS, Moses RL, Dally J, Moseley R, Lundy FT, Corbacho-Monne M, Walker SL, Cazorla MU, Ouchi D, Fang R, Briggs M, Kiapranis R, Yahimbu M, Mitjà O, Prescott TAK. (2022)