Originally from Bangor, Co. Down, Peter moved to Downing College, Cambridge in 2004 to study Natural Sciences, where he undertook a Master's project under the supervision of Professor Martin D. Smith investigating cascade approaches to bicyclic alkaloid natural products. In 2008, Peter moved to University College, Oxford with Professor Smith to commence a DPhil., developing chiral counter-ion directed asymmetric electrocyclic reactions. His postdoctoral studies were also in Oxford, where he joined the lab of Professor Andrew D. Hamilton FRS. His work for Professor Hamilton included developing novel monomeric and oligomeric molecular switches, and the synthesis of α-helix and β-sheet secondary structural mimics as therapeutic agents to intercept protein-protein interactions. At the same time Peter was appointed as a Stipendiary Lecturer in Organic Chemistry in University College, Oxford.

 

In 2016 Peter was appointed to the faculty at Queen's University, Belfast, where his research interests lie in the application of synthetic chemistry to tackle challenging problems involving molecular recognition including catalysis, synthesis and chemical biology. In 2022 Peter was made Director of Education for the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and in 2023 he was promoted to Senior Lecturer.