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Harnessing microbiology to tackle global challenges

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Biography

My research interests focus on enzymology, protein engineering and synthetic biology for solar-to-chemicals conversion. My research has provided fresh insights into the mechanisms used by infectious bacteria to survive in the intestinal tract, by ‘electric’ bacteria to produce green electricity from resources typically considered as waste, and by environmental bacteria for cycling of N-, Fe- and S-species. My present work aims to inspire new biotechnology including sustainable electronic materials and approaches to semi-artificial photosynthesis. I use a range of methods including molecular biology, chemical biology, protein film electrochemistry and optical spectroscopies.

In recognition of my achievements in research I received the 2021 Katsumi Niki Prize for Bioelectrochemistry from the International Society of Electrochemistry, a Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship in 2015 and the inaugural Young Investigator Medal from the British Biophysical Society.

I studied Chemistry as an undergraduate at the University of Oxford. My PhD research was at the University of California, Irvine (USA) supervised by Professor Fraser Armstrong (FRS). Following post-doctoral research fellowships at the National Institutes of Health (USA) and Wageningen University (NL), I joined the University of East Anglia at a Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow.