RNA Manufacturing Innovation Team

Students

Our brilliant PhD students make Sheffield what it is – a research powerhouse, a multidisciplinary community, a place where ideas matter. We want you to bring your ideas and your enthusiasm for your chosen discipline so please contact us and state your interests and expertise.

Shady Hamed

PhD Researcher (01/2025 - 01/2028)

2nd Supervisor - Prof Joan Cordiner

Shady is currently pursuing his PhD in the School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering) at the University of Sheffield.

Shady’s research focuses on modeling mRNA vaccine production process units involving purification and drug product formulation: Chromatography, LNP formulation, and Tangential flow filtration. Shady is passionate about contributing to the mRNA vaccine project, which aims to push the boundaries of human knowledge forward and work towards eradicating more diseases.

Contact Shady via LinkedIn or email s.m.hamed@sheffield.ac.uk

Haitem Elmassoudi

PhD Researcher (09/2025 - 03/2029)

2nd Supervisor - Professor Mark Dickman

Haitem is currently pursuing his PhD in the School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on developing next-generation upstream processes for production of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics.

Contact Haitem via LinkedIn or email helmassoudi1@sheffield.ac.uk

Alumni

PhD students:

Jixin Qu - Downstream mRNA purification processes development. June 2022 - January 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jixin-qu-960b201a5/
Zidi Yang - RNA formulation LNP processes development. Dec 2022- August 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/zidi-yang-13b307245/
George William Muir - Capillary gel electrophoresis and analytical electro-separation. September 2022 - May 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-muir-meng/

MSC Research Students:

Yuchen Wu - Mass-producing the LNP-formulated mRNA vaccine active ingredient (better understanding of the energy used by equipment, clean room and facility). 2021 - 2022.
Lee Clarke - mRNA vaccine production based on stainless steel (re-usable) vs. single-use equipment (including consumables such as filter membranes, chromatography resins, bags, tubes, connectors, etc.). 2021 - 2022.
Zihan Xu - mRNA vaccine fill-to-finish (including borosilicate or aluminosilicate glass multidose vials with bromobutyl or chlorobutyl rubber stoppers and aluminium seals).
Erxin Zhou - Raw materials for manufacturing mRNA vaccines, including the lipids. 2021 - 2022.
John Day - mRNA vaccine secondary and tertiary packaging, distribution, and administration (including syringes, gloves, etc.). 2021 - 2022.
Yutong Jiang - Modelling of continuous mRNA vaccine production, techno-economic modelling. 2021 - 2022.
Cheng Chen - Quality by Design modelling. Mechanistic/first principle modelling. Prior knowledge in Python is required. 2021 - 2022.
Erxin Zhou - Raw materials for manufacturing mRNA vaccines, including the lipids. 2022 - 2023.
Mihir Umesh Desai - Techno-economic modelling of Continuous mRNA vaccine manufacturing. 2023 - 2024.
Yiqing Wu - Techno-economics of individualized Non-small cell lung cancer therapy distributed manufacturing based on mRNA technology. 2023 - 2024.
Ke Xu - Evaluating the energy and environmental footprint of using stainless steel (multi-use) vs single-use equipment for mRNA vaccine manufacturing. 2023 - 2024.
Yinhuang Xu - Evaluating the energy and the environmental footprint for manufacturing the T7 RNA polymerase enzyme used for mRNA vaccine manufacturing. 2023 - 2024.
Yingjie Xu - Evaluating the Energy and Environmental Footprint for Manufacturing the Template DNA Used for mRNA Vaccine Manufacturing. 2023 - 2024.
Rhys W McPhail. A techno-economic assessment of template DNA amplification methods. 2024-2025.
Hege Hadland. Techno-Economic Modelling of Immobilised Enzyme-Based mRNA Manufacturing. 2024-2025.
Arthur GB Tavares. Techno-economic modelling of mRNA manufacturing with the recycling of high-cost raw materials. 2024-2025.

BEng and MEng Research Students:

Oisín McLaughlin - Techno-economic analysis of Chromatography Purification Processes in RNA Vaccine Production. 2021 - 2022.
Joe Smith - Continuous mRNA Manufacturing: Designing Reactors for In Vitro Transcription with CFD. 2022 - 2023.
Ioanna (Ioni) Kalospyrou - A Data-Driven Approach to Harmonising Experimental Design and Mechanistic Modelling: Application to mRNA Production. 2022 - 2023.
Shady Hamed - Mechanistic modelling of 3’ mRNA extensions for QbDD applications. 2023 - 2024.
Forbes T Gusha - Techno-economic modelling of RNA vaccine manufacturing based on single-use consumables vs stainless steel production. 2023-2024.
Obai Aiach - Techno-Economic Analysis of Continuous mRNA Manufacturing for Influenza Vaccines. 2023-2024.
Samira N Gulzar. Reviewing The Evaluation of Stability-Related Critical Quality Attributes and GMP Compliance in MRNA Vaccine and Therapeutics Manufacturing. 2024-2025.
Natasha Dahir. Developing and Optimising circular RNA for vaccine therapeutics and manufacturing. 2024-2025.
Ricardo F Moura Cardoso. pH-based yield measurement in mRNA vaccine and therapeutic upstream manufacturing. 2024-2025.

Sheffield Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE), Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) and summer interns:

Ioanna 'Ioni' Kalospyrou - Optimisation of the in vitro transcription reactor and soft sensor development for mRNA vaccine production. 2022.
Angus Hardy - Application of sensors in IVT mRNA Vaccine manufacturing. 2022.
Ricardo Moura Cardoso - Optimization of RNA In Vitro Transcription for therapy and pandemic preparedness. 2022.
Abigail Cordiner - Optimization of RNA In Vitro Transcription for therapy and pandemic preparedness. 2022.
Muhammad T Jamil - The Characterisation and Optimisation for the In Vitro Transcription for mRNA production. 2023.
David Manrique Suarez - The optimisation of the Lipid nanoparticles formulation (LNP) for mRNA-LNP production. 2023.
Fuaad Jafree - Development and optimization of the circular mRNA synthesis for vaccine manufacturing. 2024.
Natasha Dahir - Development and optimization of the circular mRNA synthesis for vaccine manufacturing. 2024.

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