Professor Chris Frost will join the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences (NMES) in February 2022 as Vice Dean (Research). Chris will provide strategic leadership for the academic research carried out across our five departments within NMES, including furthering interdisciplinary research across the faculty and university.

Chris joins from the University of Bath, where he is a professor in the Department of Chemistry (and was previously the Head of Department) and Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Science.

Commenting on his appointment, Professor Bashir M. Al-Hashimi, Executive Dean, said:

“I look forward to welcoming Chris to King’s. He brings a wealth of leadership experience, multidisciplinary knowledge and expertise for improving research performance across the academic and strategic research environment in both engineering and science”.

The faculty has a wide range of research interests in science and engineering, ranging from the very specific to the infinite. From nanophotonics to cosmology, mechatronics to wireless communication, cell biology to theoretical physics, we are working at all scales to understand our world, its context in the universe and to change things for the better.

Much of our work is already interdisciplinary with links to other departments and research centres such as Randall Centre for Cell and Molecular Biophysics, the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Francis Crick Institute, as well as with industrial partners such as EDF Research, the Pensions Policy Institute and Unilever.

Chris said:

“I am delighted to be joining King’s to take on this exciting role. I look forward to working with the ambitious research teams in the faculty and its departments and across the university to further grow sustainable research excellence and to enable impactful, multidisciplinary approaches to global societal challenges in line with the King’s vision to make the world a better place."

Biography

Chris completed his BSc(Hons) and PhD in Organic Synthesis at the University of Loughborough. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Texas at Austin, he joined the Chemistry Department at the University of Bath and in 2011 was promoted to Full Professor in Organic Chemistry.

Chris has run a successful and productive interdisciplinary research programme for over 20 years. His research involves creating new chemical tools for healthcare. Current interdisciplinary projects include developing catalytic processes to modify the structural and physicochemical properties of molecules and biopolymers, post-synthetic modification of oligonucleotides and exploring new concepts and selectivity strategies in protein bioconjugation with organometallic reagents. Chris is one of the academic co-founders of Binx Health a medical diagnostics company that uses patented electrochemical technology to provide a point-of-care platform to test and treat infectious disease. Chris helped establish the Centre for Biosensors, Bioelectronics and Biodevices (C3BIO) at Bath, bringing together research expertise from across the Faculties of Engineering & Design, Science and Health.