Clare initially studied Fine Art painting obtaining a BA(hons) degree from the Belfast School of Art, University of Ulster. In an about turn, she embarked on a career in science and obtained a PhD in Biochemistry from Queen's University Belfast (2014) where she studied the molecular basis of negative cooperativity in flavo-enzymes in the lab of Prof. David Timson. Clare then joined Prof. Fraser Armstrong’s group at the University of Oxford (2015 – 2021) where she learnt to study enzymes using electrochemistry, focussing on two terminal enzymes of photosynthetic electron-transfer chains, the [FeFe]-hydrogenase, HydA1, and ferredoxin NADP⁺ reductase (FNR). Her work on FNR contributed to the discovery of the “Electrochemical Leaf”. Clare has been awarded a Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Fellowship from the University of Manchester (2022) to begin her independent academic career, taking the Electrochemical Leaf in new directions.

RESEARCH

Electrified Enzymes; In the Electrochemical Leaf, enzymes (and cascades of enzymes) are entrapped and crowded in the tiny cavities of a highly porous electrode where they are driven bidirectionally by electricity, controlled by the voltage applied, and monitored directly in real-time. The crowded and nanoconfined conditions mimic those in nature, leading to high efficiency; coupled with the ability to drive and control the enzymes, the power of the Electrochemical Leaf as an enzyme interrogator, is unique.  My research will exploit this power to study enzyme cascades involved in disease and antibiotic resistance, for enzyme discovery and biosynthesis, and the design of new enzyme-electrode materials.      

Electrified Enzymes

In the Electrochemical Leaf, enzymes (and cascades of enzymes) are entrapped and crowded in the tiny cavities of a highly porous electrode where they are driven bidirectionally by electricity, controlled by the voltage applied, and monitored directly in real-time. The crowded and nanoconfined conditions mimic those in nature, leading to high efficiency; coupled with the ability to drive and control the enzymes, the power of the Electrochemical Leaf as an enzyme interrogator, is unique.  My research will exploit this power to study enzyme cascades involved in disease and antibiotic resistance, for enzyme discovery and biosynthesis, and the design of new enzyme-electrode materials.