Biography
Alex obtained both his MSci (2008) and PhD (2012) from the Department of Chemistry, University of Bristol. After a short postdoc there, he moved to the Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, where he was a Research Associate until 2019. During this time, he was also a Visiting Researcher, at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2017 – 2018). In June 2019, Alex moved to the Department of Chemistry, King’s College London, to establish his group as a Lecturer in Chemistry.
My research is in the development of new protein-based biomaterials for non-aqueous biocatalysis. The main focus of which will enable us to move from an oil-based economy to a bio-based economy. Essentially, nature has many tools for the utilisation of biomass for the various building blocks of life. However, the processes are far too slow to be used in their current form to make the fuels, chemicals, and plastics we require for modern living. The question, which my research aims to answer, can we make biological systems more compatible with synthetic systems, such that we can fully exploit nature’s toolkit to make our own industry more sustainable and more environmentally friendly.
Specifically, my main research interests are:
- Biocatalysis in ionic liquids
- Nonaqueous enzymes
- Biophysics of proteins in unnatural environments
- Biomaterials
- Functional hybrid materials
- Protein engineering
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