Driven by curiosity. Driving changeResearch
From photocatalytic bio-nano hybrids to contrast agents for senescent cells.
If we had to sum our research in one sentence, we would say ‘we design bio-nano hybrid materials’. We do this with a particular application in mind, which ultimately guides our design. Our interest lies in the development of biocompatible materials inspired by nature, either by mimicking what nature does best or by exploiting biological building blocks.
For example, we employ flavin cofactors to design the next generation of photocatalysts and exploit the properties of biopolymers to ensure uptake of drugs into solid tumours. No matter where we start, we often end up using our molecular tools for applications we have not initially anticipated. The polymers developed for catalysis might be used as contrast agents for senescent cells and building blocks of drug nanocarriers for the enhancement of biosensors’ activity.
Such diversity of molecular and nanostructured tools and applications can be achieved only through collaborations with other researchers and our colleagues in industry. Our collaborators include clinicians and cancer biologists, but also engineers and product developers from small start-ups and established companies.
Our research
Hybrid materials
Our hybrid materials combine biomolecules with inorganic or polymeric nanostructures. We often employ nanostructured building blocks functionalised with multifunctional surface linkers to enable attachment of biomolecular components.
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Biosensors
A large part of our research activities is aimed at developing new drug carrier formulations, improving our understanding of solid tumours and chemotherapy-induced cell ageing (chemotherapy-induced senescence). However, to design effective therapies, we need to be able to detect diseases early or to follow their progression before and after treatment.
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Bio-inspired catalysts
Within the field of sustainable manufacturing, we are interested in photocatalysis and the design of artificial enzymes. We initially explored light-triggered chemical reactions as a tool for the functionalisation of nanomaterials, which inspired us to expand our research into artificial enzyme design. In particular, the use of light-sensitive cofactors such as flavins.
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Nanomedicine
Nanomedicine has emerged as a field of medicine that exploits nanomaterials either in the development of drug formulations or in tissue engineering. At the core of bionanotechnology as a field is the exploration of the interactions between engineered nanostructure, biomolecules and cells.
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Antiviral and antibacterial work
To deal with the emergence of new viruses and bacterial strains resistant to antibiotics, we need new molecular and nanomaterial-based strategies.
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Our molecules
We design and synthesise nanoparticle linkers, dopamine derivatives, dyes, clickable moieties for bioconjugation and many more. You can either get some of these through the Cambridge Enterprise reagents scheme or, if you need them for your research, talk to us, and we will find a way to assist you in selecting the right molecule for your project.