I am a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Manchester, based in the Manchester Institute for Biotechnology. I am also the CAMS (Community for Analytical Measurement Science) Chair at Manchester, and co-chair the CAMS Measurement Sciences Institute. 

I did my undergraduate degree in Chemistry at the University of Bristol, and then moved to the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford where I did a DPhil in the group of Professor Jack Baldwin elucidating the mechanism of the enzyme isopenicillin-N-synthase, the key enzyme that makes penicillin. After a short post doc at Oxford I moved to the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge where I was the Schering Fellow of Bioorganic Chemistry working with Professor Alan Battersby on understanding the complex biosynthesis of vitamin B₁₂. I was also appointed as a Research Fellow at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge.

I then moved to my first academic post as a lecturer in chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Strathclyde, working on sequence selective DNA minor groove binders. I also built on my experience of electrospray mass spectrometry, a new technique at the time, which resulted in a move to the Faculty of Biomedical and Life Sciences at the University of Glasgow to head their new proteomics facility. I soon took over as the Director of the Sir Henry Wellcome Functional Genomics Facility at Glasgow, and built a multidisciplinary research team working on the interface between biology and chemistry. I then moved to the School of Pharmacy at Aston University in Birmingham, continuing my work on chemical biology and mass spectrometry, before moving to the University of Manchester in 2020.

My research is best described as chemical biology, the application of chemical tools and methods to understand biology. The main technique we use is chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry.  We focus on the study of proteins, lipids and metabolites, and how these are related to the complex biology going on in cells and organisms. This ranges from the study of fundamental biochemical questions, such as how the composition of the membrane affects membrane protein activity, and how the modification of proteins and lipids by oxygen affects their biology, to human health by determining systemic biomarkers that are valuable for both diagnosis of disease and understanding the underlying mechanisms and the effects of drug intervention.

Lipid analysis

Lipids are fundamental to life, with many essential biological roles. In fact, the self-assembly of lipid bilayers to form primitive cells is likely to have been an important step in the evolution of life on Earth. Lipids play essential roles biological structure and activity, signalling and metabolic processes. However, the analysis of the complex mixture of lipids found in biology, the lipidome, remains very challenging. We are developing chromatographic separation and mass spectrometric methods to delve into this complexity. 

Metabolomics

The metabolome, the small molecules present in a system, provides detailed and dynamic information on what is going on in that system.  By identifying the changes in the metabolome we can start to understand how systems work and adapt to perturbations. A very powerful techniques is to use isotopically labelled molecules to trace their fate through complex metabolic pathways.  We are using metabolomics and isotopic tracer experiments to map metabolism in complex systems such as microbiomes and cells used in bioproduction.

Proteomics

Proteins are the workhorse of the cell, and are responsible for both the chemistry, biochemistry and much of the structure of cells.  Studying the proteins, how they interact with each other, and how chemical modification of proteins changes their behaviour, gives us detailed insight into the functioning of the cells or systems. 

Some of the biological questions we are exploring

• Microbiomes have the potential to be the factories of the future, as they will be much more adaptable than single cell systems. The vision is to engineering microbiomes to use cheap carbon sources such as biomass or the capture of CO₂ to make value or fine chemicals. The challenge is that we do not really understand how the microbes in the microbiome work together, how they communicate and share resources, and how they adapt to change.  To gain insight into this we are working with a group of world-leading researchers at Manchester to study the metabolism and communication in these systems.
• CHO cells (Chinese hamster ovary cells) are the cell factories that are used to make the majority of the new generation biopharmaceuticals, especially antibodies. The engineering of these cells or their growth conditions to maximise yield while maintaining product quality, requires a deeper understanding of the system, and especially how the stress of protein production affects them.  We are working with a talented group of academics across the UK and Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, on an EPSRC funded Prosperity Partnership to improve the manufacturing cell lines.  We are using a multiomics approach, combining transcriptome, proteome and metabolome data with new modelling methods.
• The bioproduction of bulk chemicals such as biofuels is often limited by the toxic effects the products have on the producing cells. This is often through changes that are induced in the physical properties of the membrane by the product.  Through understanding how changes in the lipid composition can mitigate this, through analysis and modelling of the lipids, we can engineer in features that make the cells more resistant, allowing increased production.
• Oxidative damage to biomolecules is an unavoidable consequence of our metabolism and becomes more prevalent in disease. Redox imbalance leads to oxidation of proteins and lipids, and the reactive products that are generated from this initial oxidation can go on and cause further damage.  Identifying and understanding the oxidised products of proteins and lipids, and how lipid oxidation products react with proteins is helping us to understand the roles these play in disease, and potential mitigation strategies.  These molecules also have potential as specific disease biomarkers.

CAMS

CAMS, the Community for Analytical Measurement Science, is an industry-led initiative aimed at promoting world-class analytical measurement science training, research and innovation by bringing together a network of industrial and academic partners with interests in these fields across the UK and Ireland. To give an idea of the scope of the community, this industry-academia partnership is funded by the Analytical Chemistry Trust Fund (ACTF), the industry memberships, academia programme co-funding, (former) BEIS and is supported by the Medicines Manufacturing Industry Partnership (MMIP).

As an industry led-network, CAMS works to address specific industry challenges in four priority areas:

• Point of use sensors and photonics
• Complex mixtures, separations and detection
• Data analytics
• Novel instrumentation or techniques

Further information on CAMS can be found on the CAMS web site https://cams-uk.co.uk/. 

I am a Fellow of the Royal Society for Chemistry and The Royal Society for Biology. I am currently Deputy Chair for BBSRC Committee D, sit on a number of journal Editorial Boards, am on the HUPO Journals Committee and am closely involved in the British Society for Proteome Research.

The following are indicative of my teaching contributions.

Year 1

CHEM10530 - Analytical Chemistry. Coursecoordinator and lecturer

CHEM10101 - Introductory Chemistry. Academic Tutorials

Year 2

CHEM20500 - Chemists Toolkit II. Lecturer

CHEM20611/CHEM61201 - Integrated Spectroscopy and Separations. Academic Tutorials

Year 3

CHEM30620 - Advanced Practical Training. Marker and project supervisor.

Year 4

CHEM41600/CHEM42600/CHEM43600/CHEM44600 - MChem Project. Course coordinator and project supervisor.

MSc

BIOL64351 - Advanced Biotechnology II. Course coordinator and lecturer.