Shujie Li is a PhD student in the Department of Chemistry, King's College London, under the supervision of Dr Andrew Surman and Dr Micaela Matta. His research focuses on the characterisation of melanins with analytical and computational chemistry, which involves a mix of synthesis, instrumental analysis, data analysis, DFT calculations and Python for data analysis and automation.

Shujie obtained his Bachelor’s in Chemistry at the University of Toronto, and a Master’s in Medical Sciences at the University College London (UCL). Shujie has also worked in the industry at Pharmaron Co Ltd in a synthetical chemistry laboratory.

Thesis 

A characterisation of melanins with analytical chemistry, computational chemistry and machine learning.

Melanin: a black/dark brown pigment present in many creatures (and all humans) in hair, skin, eyes, and other organs. The structure of melanin is not understood because it is more complicated in branching, it is heterogeneous ("messy"), and it is not completely soluble in any solvents (including water). This project will push forward our understanding of melanin's structure. Apart from the value of knowledge for its own sake, understanding melanin's structure is important as it is increasingly being considered as a (semi)conducting material for bioelectronic and medical devices. Ultimately, we hope to reach a level of understanding where melanin, and synthetic melanins, can be manipulated to improve their properties, facilitating the much-heralded revolution in applying melanin as a (semi)conducting material in bioelectronic devices.

Research Interests

• Melanogenesis
• Melanin Characterisation
• Organic synthesis
• Analytical chemistry
• Computational chemistry

PhD Supervisors

• Dr Andrew Surman
• Dr Micaela Matta