I was born and grew up in a commuter town near London in the UK, before escaping to Bristol to study at university. While my family inculcated me with a respect for culture and love of learning (particularly reading), Bristol opened my eyes to life (comedy, food/drink, music and people) and is a city I love.
I studied chemistry as an undergraduate at the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol, carrying out my final year research project on polymers and colloids under the supervision of Professor Brian Vincent (which resulted in my first research paper), graduating with an M.Sci. (Hons) in 2002. My PhD on the supramolecular chemistry of dendrimers was carried out under the supervision of Professor David K. Smith at the Department of Chemistry at the University of York, finishing in 2005 (working with Dave was a fantastic experience). York is a beautiful and lively city in the heart of the North of England. From 2006-2007 I was an Entente Cordiale Scholar (Postdoctoral Research Fellow) in metallosupramolecular chemistry mentored by Professor Jean-Marie Lehn (who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987) and Professor Jack Harrowfield in the Institute of Science & Engineering (ISIS) at the University of Strasbourg in France; I particularly enjoyed the cinema and food in France. From 2007-2010 I was an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow in biochemistry and bioengineering mentored by Professor Thomas Scheibel in the Department of Engineering at the University of Bayreuth in Germany; it was here I learned the differences between Bavaria and Franconia (very specifically Oberfranken) which can largely be summarized as style of beer & sausages. From 2010-2014 I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in bioelectronics and biomedical engineering mentored by Professor Christine Schmidt (in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Florida in Gainesville) and Professor David Kaplan (Tufts University in Medford) in the USA. Three of the happiest years of my life were spent in Austin (Texas, USA), where the food, lifestyle, music, nightlife, people and location are fantastic (I have a multitude of people to thank for my life changing experience in Austin, particularly Joe Benavides and Luis Benavides). From 2014-2015 I was an Industrial Research Fellow in biophotonics mentored by Professor Colin McCoy in the School of Pharmacy at Queen's University Belfast, in Northern Ireland (Colin is one of the nicest people I have ever worked with).
I began my independent career as a 50th Anniversary Lectureship (equivalent to Assistant Professor in the USA) in Materials Chemistry co-appointed in the Department of Chemistry and Materials Science Institute at Lancaster University (Lancashire, UK) in August 2015. Lancaster University is consistently highly ranked and is located on a beautiful campus in the North West of England close to the stunning Lake District National Park which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I secured academic tenure (USA terminology ["passing academic probation" being the equivalent UK terminology]) in August 2017, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer (equivalent to Associate Professor in the USA) in Materials Chemistry in August 2018.
My experience of working in collaborative multidisciplinary teams of researchers (typically involving chemists, biologists, biochemists, engineers, materials scientists, natural scientists, pharmacists, physicists and social scientists) in an interdisciplinary fashion to generate new knowledge and solve problems of a transdisciplinary nature is something I value and enjoy. I appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with experts with high quality discipline-specific training and will always attempt to engage in a proactive way if approached: my various commitments may distract me from responding instantaneously, but please do not hesitate to contact me again.
Service in a variety of forms is important to me, and I devote a significant amount of my time to volunteering, outreach, and other activities in support of Learned Societies, National Academies, and Professional Associations, etc.
I am not a huge fan of formalities, but I guess that if you have read this far you realize I am a fan of detailed information.
August 2018 – Present: 50th Anniversary Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor). Department of Chemistry & Materials Science Institute, Lancaster University (UK).
August 2015 – July 2018: 50th Anniversary Lecturer (Assistant Professor). Department of Chemistry & Materials Science Institute, Lancaster University (UK).
July 2014 – June 2015: Industrial Research Fellow. School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK).
Visiting Researcher: Teleflex Inc. in the Republic of Ireland and USA.
June 2013 – June 2014: Postdoctoral Research Associate. J. Crayton Pruitt Family Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (USA).
Sep 2010 – May 2013: Postdoctoral Research Associate. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Visiting Researcher: David Kaplan's lab at Tufts University, Boston (USA).
Nov 2007 – Aug 2010: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Department of Engineering, Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Oberfranken (Germany).
Visiting Researcher: Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Max-Planck Institute of Colloids (Germany), and the Medical University of Vienna (Austria).
Jan 2006 – Sep 2007: Entente Cordiale Postdoctoral Research Fellow. The Institut de Science et d'Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (ISIS), Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, Alsace (France).
Oct 2002 – Sep 2005: PhD in Chemistry (awarded in March 2007), Department of Chemistry, University of York, Heslington, York, Yorkshire (UK).
Visiting Researcher: Professor Dan Pack's lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA) and Syngenta Technology and Products (UK).
Sep 1998 – Jul 2002: M.Sci. (Hons.) in Chemistry (awarded in July 2002), School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, (UK).
Intern at Bristol Colloid Centre & GlaxoSmithKline [Harlow, Stevenage and Ware] (UK).
2023: Elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (USA).
2023: Elected Full Member, Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society (USA).
2021: Elected Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), (UK).
2021: International Scientist Awards for Engineering, Science and Medicine “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the VDGOOD Professional Association (India).
2020: International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM) Scientist Award (Sweden).
2019: Publons Peer Review Awards 2019: Top 1% Of Reviewers of Chemistry Research and Review Papers (As classified by the All Science Journal Classification, ASJC, from Clarivate Analytics).
2019: Publons Peer Review Awards 2019: Top 1% Of Reviewers of Cross-Field Research and Review Papers (As classified by the All Science Journal Classification, ASJC, from Clarivate Analytics).
2019: Publons Peer Review Awards 2019: Top 1% Of Reviewers of Materials Science Research and Review Papers (As classified by the All Science Journal Classification, ASJC, from Clarivate Analytics).
2019: Elected Chartered Chemist (CChem): awarding body Royal Society of Chemistry, (UK).
2018: Elected Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), (UK).
2018: Elected Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM), (UK).
2018: Publons Peer Review Awards 2018: Top 1% Of Reviewers of Chemistry Research and Review Papers (As classified by the All Science Journal Classification, ASJC, from Scopus).
2018: Publons Peer Review Awards 2018: Top 1% Of Reviewers of Materials Science Research and Review Papers (As classified by the All Science Journal Classification, ASJC, from Scopus).
2018: STEM Ambassador: STEM Learning UK (UK).
2017: Publons Peer Review Awards 2017: Top 1% Of Reviewers For Multidisciplinary Research and Review Papers (As classified by the All Science Journal Classification, ASJC, from Scopus).
2016: Team Prize for Best Product Concept at the Designing the Future Workshop at the EPSRC Centre For Innovative Manufacturing in Large Area Electronics (UK).
2015: Santander Mobility Funding (UK).
2014: Queen’s University Belfast Research Portal Open Access Prize (UK).
2013: NSF Future Faculty Workshop (Northeastern University, Boston, MA) (USA).
2013: Materials Genome Initiative Workshop (Northeastern University, Boston, MA) (USA).
2009: IGSSE Travel Bursary (Germany).
2008: Alexander Von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellowship (Germany).
2007: BASF Travel Bursary (Germany).
2007: Bayer Travel Bursary (USA).
2007: ICMR Travel Bursary (USA).
2007: SCI Messel Travel Bursary (UK).
2006: RSC Younger Scientists Bursary (UK).
2006: Entente Cordiale Postdoctoral Fellowship (France-UK).
2005: Syngenta Project Presentation Prize (UK).
2003: Dow Chemical Company GMA Competition Prize (UK).
2002: EPSRC-CASE Award PhD Studentship (UK).
2002: Astra Zeneca Project Prize (UK).
2002: ICI Project Presentation Prize (UK).
2000: RSC Exemplarchem Prize (UK).
2000: WHSmith Customer Service Award (UK).