dr. Denys Bondar (PhD)

My research is carried out within the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship project DoNoHarm, which is built around a simple but critical question in cancer therapy: how can anticancer drugs be made effective without harming the patient. Many current treatments rely on potent cytotoxicity that is poorly selective, leading to systemic toxicity and limiting long-term use. DoNoHarm addresses this challenge at the molecular and chemical design level.
The project focuses on gold(I)–N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes incorporating chalcogen ligands (selenium or sulfur) as a new class of anticancer agents. These systems are intentionally designed to differ from classical platinum drugs, allowing fine control over stability, reactivity, and biological interaction. A central concept of DoNoHarm is that chemical structure can be engineered to minimise off-target damage while preserving anticancer activity.
DoNoHarm explicitly integrates green chemistry principles into medicinal inorganic chemistry, prioritising mild conditions, reduced solvent use, and sustainable synthetic strategies. This aligns therapeutic innovation with environmental responsibility.
The research combines rational synthesis, in vitro cancer cell evaluation, and computational analysis to establish structure–activity relationships that guide compound selection early in development. Within multidisciplinary cancer research, DoNoHarm contributes at the interface of chemistry, biology, and medicine, delivering new chemical tools and design principles that support downstream biological and translational studies. Ultimately, the project aims to enable safer, more selective anticancer therapies, benefiting patients while advancing sustainable drug discovery.
 

I am a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow in the Nolan Group at Ghent University, Belgium. My research within the DoNoHarm project focuses on gold catalysis, selenium chemistry, and N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) stereochemistry, with the goal of enabling safer and more selective anticancer strategies through rational molecular design and green chemistry principles.

Previously, I worked as a Postdoctoral Scientist at Nanordica Medical (Estonia) and as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech), contributing to antibacterial nanotechnology and organic synthesis. I obtained my PhD in Chemistry from TalTech, where I developed nanodiamond-based drug-delivery systems and PARP inhibitors.

My broader expertise spans organometallic chemistry, catalysis, medicinal chemistry, and drug-delivery materials. I am the author of several peer-reviewed publications in organic, medicinal, and materials chemistry, and I actively contribute to multidisciplinary cancer research through international collaboration and scientific dissemination.
 

• ‘Synthesis, In silico and In vitro Evaluation of Novel Oxazolopyrimidines as Promising Anticancer Agents’. Helvetica Chimica Acta, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1002/hlca.202000169
• ‘Hydroxamic Acids as PARP-1 Inhibitors: Molecular Design and Anticancer Activity of Novel Phenanthridinones’. Helvetica Chimica Acta, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1002/hlca.202300133
• ‘Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase (PARP) Inhibitors for Cancer Therapy: Advances, Challenges, and Future Directions’. Biomolecules, 2024. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom14101269
• ‘A new generation of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) gold–selenolato complexes as potent anticancer agents: distinct synthetic routes and evaluation in 2D and 3D cancer models.’ Chemical Science, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1039/D5SC04490A
   

• Lab address: Krijgslaan 281 - building S3 (Campus Sterre), 9000 Gent, Belgium
• The Nolan Group
• Denys Bondar is interested in interdisciplinary collaborations at the interface of metal chemistry, redox biology, and selenium chemistry, particularly where these concepts overlap with neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease) through shared mechanisms of oxidative stress and cellular toxicity. 
  He is also open to collaborations on the use of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes against ESKAPE multidrug-resistant bacteria.
• Denys Bondar is interested to receive invitations for presentations or talks