Jonathan Baell (né Ball) is trained as an Australian medicinal chemist and is currently executive director, early leads chemistry at Lyterian Therapeutics in San Francisco.
[8] In 2001, Baell moved to the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI), where he served as the Head of Medicinal Chemistry for the subsequent decade.
[8] During this time, Baell published a paper in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry describing a naturally occurring chemical derived from Ammi visnaga, khellinone, as the basis of a potential new class of immunosuppressive drugs for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
[12] His 2010 publication identified the chemical structures of these compounds and constructed electronic filters that can be used in HTS campaigns to remove PAINS from screening hits.
[13] The impact of Baell's work on PAINS was recognized in 2020 when he was presented the Scientific Achievement Award in Drug Discovery and Development by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.