Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½

I am interested in supervising Masters and PhD students in the following areas: microbiology, healthcare, antibiotics, antimicrobials, bacteriophages, quorum-sensing, biofilms, water pollution, drinking water, waste water, zoonoses, environmental microbiology.

I am happy to supervise students in a variety of areas including digital fabrication (additive manufacturing, CAD/CAE, electronics), design engineering, sports engineering, and biomedical engineering. 

PhD applications are welcomed in supramolecular chemistry and molecular recognition, macrocyclic chemistry, computational chemistry, and antifungal chemistry.

I supervise students doing research in Digital Health, Coproduction of science and technology in the community, Privacy and Cybersecurity in Healthcare, Technology Assessment, consumer health technologies (IoT, wearables, Sensors, apps), user-technology relations, User-led Innovation.

I'm happy to work with prospective PhD students to develop research proposals.

I supervise projects that investigate how the tumour microenvironment impacts tumour growth and metastasis and how it responds to anti-cancer therapies. My projects focus on the interaction between tumour cells and tumour asscociated macrophages, and investigate macrophage heterogeneity and subpopulations during the course of tumour pogression and antineoplastic therapy. The protumoral subsets of macrophages are identified for therapeutic targeting. 

My current projects investigate TAM plasticity and targeting in different 3D models of the tumour microenviornment in triple negative breast cancer.

I am interested in supervising project ideas in line with my research interests stated below:

• Application of AI techniques in the medical field in the diagnosis and provision of effective treatment paths.

• Implementation of AI concepts in robotic systems.

• Implementation of AI techniques for object avoidance system for an unmanned vehicle.

• Behaviour analysis of intelligent agents for Command, Control, and coordination.

• Sensor Fusion Framework Supporting Heterogeneous Commercial Sensing Technologies 

I supervise PhD students who use numerical methods (such the boundary element method and finite element method) to solve problems in applied mathematics.

PhD projects that I am interested in supervising include using combined boundary element and finite element methods for modelling the motion of biological cells due to chemotaxis, the use of the finite element method to model deformations of the spinal cord (in relation to the medical condition syringomyelia) and the use of the finite element method in image analysis (such denoising images and segmenting images).

Supervision of MRes and PhD-level projects in which postgraduate students develop biocompatible devices designed to both target and sustain the release of small-molecule therapeutics, in a theranostic response to disease-specific biomechanical/biochemical triggers. As part of the multidisciplinary Centre of Regerative Medicine and Devices (CRMD) Centre of Research Excellence (CORE), my students benefit from belonging to a multidisciplinary team with expertise in biology, chemistry, materials science and more. I seek to nurture independence in the next generation of researchers, and generate concepts with real-world applications. My students therefore lead material development and characterisation, seeking to identify candidate systems which may be suitable for commercial and clinical adoption.

PhD supervision

"Optimising the Wound Dressing Interface" - Mr Sertan Kiziloz, 2022 - Present. 

MRes Supervision

"Ophthalmic medical devices to treat oxidative stress at the anterior eye by sustained delivery of radical scavengers" - Faye Abdullah, 2023 - Present

"Development of Novel Biomaterials for Ocular Inserts: Potential Treatment for Glaucoma" - Mr. Chukwuebuka Richard Obiora, 2020 - 2021

I am interested to supervise PhD, MRes projects and research studies related to musculoskeletal conditions.  My supervisory interests are

• Musculoskeletal disorders – Looking into aspects of health promotion, prevention, diagnosis and rehabilitation
• Work related musculoskeletal pain and its effect on the health and wellbeing
• Musculoskeletal rehabilitation and management in the context of Low Middle income Countries – Knowledge, awareness, practice and evaluation of health related services and initiatives
• Musculoskeletal disorders and occupational health
• Exploring Innovation and technology in healthcare sector and services

Physiology and biophysics of the mammalian cochlea with focus on cochlear micromechanics and generation of optoacoustic emissions; Hearing impairment as a consequence of genetic mutation, noise and age-related hearing loss; Development of new types of hearing aid and new ways of drug delivery into the cochlea.

The Diabetes Research Group (DRG) work directly with patients with Type 1, Type 2 and Gestational Diabetes, utilising state of the art technologies to provide novel and more effective therapeutic interventions.

PhD Students at University of Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½

Karen Sargent

CGMS technology for improved outcomes in patients with gestational diabetes.

Victoria Ordor      

Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems (CGMS) as a motivational tool in young obese individuals. PhD sponsored by the Niger Delta Development Commission.

Elaine Sharp

Investigating the role of psychological time perspective in adherence to self-care in young adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D)

Madeline Honey             

The effect of anti-psychotic drugs on long-term beta-cell survival and pancreatic function.

Alice Hagan       

Elucidation of the Mechanism of Action of Locally-delivered Novel Chemotherapeutic Agent Combinations from Drug-eluting Embolisation Systems. PhD sponsored by an 1851 Royal Commission Fellowship in collaboration with BTG. PhD Awarded 2018

Dr Nouf Alhasawi   

Protection of islet cells for transplantation therapy in type 1 diabetes. PhD awarded 2016

Dr Ben McCutcheon

Mining bugs for drugs: Discovery and characterization of novel bioactive compounds from the human gut microbiome. PhD awarded 2016.

Dr Sandeep Kumar

Expression, subcellular localisation and regulation of programmed cell death gene 4 (PDCD4) in human pancreatic cells in response to hypoxia. PhD awarded 2015.

Dr Jonathan Nzakizwanayo

Investigation of host-microbe interactions in the probiotics. PhD Awarded 2014.

PhD students

Previous PhD students 

Vishal Birar (2016)

The effects resveratrol and new novel analogues of this stilbene have on sirt1 activation

Badr Ibrahim (2010)

Mechanisms of replicative senescence in Werner's Syndrome cells.

Dominic Burton (2007)

Analysis of replicative senescence: a genomics approach

MRes projects

Previous MRes students 

Marcin Matczak 2022-current

Does air pollution, particularly ultrafine particles (UFPs), accelerate the ageing of the ‘healthy’ lung? 

Chloe Rogers 2022-current

Examination of the effects of novel anti-ageing compounds on human premature ageing diseases  

Sophie Nezha 2022-current 

A biomimetic substrate platform for the in vitro control of cell phenotypes 

Martha Teneeketzi 2020-2021

THE EFFECT OF URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS ON BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER FUNCTION

Tegwen Elliott 2017-2018                                

Development of an in vitro model of gastric inflammation in pernicious anaemia and the effect of treatment with cobalamin.                                                               

Rasphal Flora 2014-2015

Investigating the pathogenicity of Klebsiella pneumoniae and its associated virulence factors in cases of clinical disease.

MSc projects

Previous MSc students 

Kiera Condon 2021-2022

The Role of Soluble Amyloid and Senescence in Brain Endothelial Cell LRP1 Expression and Associated Blood Brain Barrier Dysfunction.

Shannon Furness 2016-2017                                     

The Effect of Curcumin on Cellular Senescence, Viability, Proliferation, and Apoptosis in Breast Cancer Cells in Vitro.                                                                  

Duo Li. 2015-2016

Do senescent cells contribute to mucus secretion in COPD patience?

Aimee Hunt 2014-2015

The effects of adenosine, rotenone and resveratrol on senescence and mucin secretion within an immortalised rat tracheal epithelial cell line (SPOC1).

Jack Barker 2013-2014

Efficacy of the novel antiseptic coating, gendine, in the inhibition of Klebsiella pneumoniae growth and biofilm formation on urinary catheters.

Caroline Gill 2013-2014

he Role of Virulent Klebsiella pneumoniae in Pyogenic Liver Abscesses in Diabetic Patients.

Alexandra Appell 2012-2013

A novel treatment strategy for bacterial keratopathy.

I supervise students in research areas related to biomedical materials and tissue engineering. I'm particularly interested in cell-biomaterial interactions and in strategies to understand changing tissue dynamics in disease and injury in order to optimise functional tissue repair and replacement.

Current PhD Students   

Sertan Kiziloz (2023 -). Optimising the wound dressing interface.

Previous PhD Students

Natalia Noriega (2019-2023) Optoelectronic bionanomaterials for ophthalmic biosensing

Grace Cooksley (2019-2022) Optoelectronic nanomaterials to reduce the complications associated with cataract surgery

Neda Hedari (2017-2021)The role of senescence in bioartificial liver design

Emma Ward (2017-2021)A new class of two dimensional optoelectronic materials in accommodating intraocular lens design

Wulan Koagouw (2017-2021)Integrative Assessment of Marine Pollution - Impact of Pharmaceuticals on Marine Bivalves

Flavia Bonalumi (2017-2020)Engineering a bioartificial liver prototype using cell loaded macroporous hydrogel scaffolds

Tochukwu Ozulumba (2015 - 2019)Nanostructured scaffolds for remediation of environmental and biological tissue contaminants

Elsie Fok (2013) The development of advanced corneal epithelial stem cell delivery systems for the treatment of corneal epithelial defects 

Yishan Zheng  (2012) Hybrid filtration adsorbent systems for extracorporeal applications 

My  research and supervisory interests cover materials science and nanotechnology (colloids) related subjects. These traverse synthetic inorganic chemistry (PhD - Gennaro Dichello; Dr Penko Nikolov; Dr Krassimir Genov), carbon nanotubes (PhD - Evgeniya Seliverstova), nanoparticle and gel-based drug delivery systems (PhD - Shaimaa Shagarki; PhD- Kais Shaban; PhD - Othman Al-Hanbali; PhD - Atia Naseem), nanoparticle sensor systems (Dr Yunlong Xu; Dr Samaa Salem) nanoparticle food systems (PhD - Carla DiMattia), nanoparticle biophysics systems (PhD - Georgi Georgiev) and specialist analytical techniques (Dr Karl Pavey; Dr David Howbrook). The materials science aspects (physics and engineering) of medical materials and waste have formed the basis of recent work (Dr Charis Nathan). I routinely supervise Post-doctoral study, PhD's, Masters degree students, Erasmus students and industrially-linked researcher project work in the following areas:

• Materials science - materials chemistry, polymer sciences (plastics and bioplastics), materials physics (photonics, plasmonics), mechanics and texture, design and device engineering
• Nanotechnology - novel materials, fullerenes and graphene, micro- and nanoanalytics, sensing and diagnostic systems and applications
• Condensed matter physics - complex fluids, wetting and detergency, dispersions (emulsions, foams, bubbles, droplets, gels), colloids (vesicles, micelles, nanobeads, SLNs), liquid crystals, rheology
• Drug delivery system design - nanoparticle and coarse dispersion based systems
• Sustainability and 3R's approaches (reduce, replace, recycle)
• Materials specifically for food products and medical applications
• Analytical chemistry and the theoretical basis for measurement science - physical sciences
• Recycling and re-assignment of 'waste' materials
• Packaging materials use and design
• Composite materials and civil engineering construction materials
• Environmental pollution and contamination with plastics (microplastics, nanoplastics) and plastic additives in addition to suspended and dissolved organic and inorganic pollutants
• Mathematical modelling and simulation of real-world events 
• Industrial process improvement, quality control and quality assurance

 Status: Approved post-graduate supervisor/examiner from the Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½ Doctoral College: renewed 29/03/2023 Past and present PhD students from 2001PresentSertan Kiziloz (2023- )Optimising host response biology to advance wound dressing efficacy

James Parmar

(2023-)

Encapsulation of Cannabinoids in Nanoparticles for use as Anti-infective Therapeutics

Tianyi Liu (2023-)

Stimuli-responsive 'smart' materials for textiles and other applications [School of Art and Media]

Kinza Tahir (2021-2024)

Commonwealth Scholarship (part undertaken with DKS at Â鶹¹û¶³´«Ã½, part undertaken with partner institution Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan): Metal nanoparticles for direct use in improving crop production

Completed PhD's (UK)

Shima Khezri Azizi Far (2020-2025)

Responsive vesicular systems based on incorporated metallic nanoparticles

 Gennaro Dichello (2012-2018)

Targeting of brain tumours with photo-dynamic therapy using liposomes and encapsulated metal nanoparticles

Kais Shaban (2014-2018)Levothyroxine drug stability and formulation in fast-dissolving oral filmsShaimaa Shakargi (2014-2018)Synthesis and therapeutic use of environmentally-sensitive polymeric micelles for drug deliveryCristina Boscariol (2015-2019)The physics of impacting droplets on model solid surfaces Othman Al-Hanbali (2004-2008)A novel assay for block co-polymer non-ionic surfactants used in nanoparticle surface engineering Atia Naseem (2000-2003)Approaches to enhancing the dissolution rate of poorly soluble drugs 

Completed PhD students at Overseas Institutions

Evgeniya Seliverstova (2011-2014) [Kazakhstan]

Energy transfer mechanisms and the photo-optical effects of fluorophore-conjugated graphene

Carla Di Mattia (2005-2009) [Italy]

Photo-oxidative changes in protein-stabilised olive oil emulsions 

Georgi As. Georgiev (2005-2008) [Bulgaria]

Phase transitions in striated foam films as models of cells membranes

  Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) research project supervisions 2002-2005 - Dr David HowbrookModification of diagnostic plastics: ABgene Technologies (3 years funded project)2002-2005: Anne Van der ValkModification of diagnostic plastics: ABgene Technologies (3 years funded project)

2017-2018: Joshua Fennell

[early termination of project]

Phase change materials: ValetPro (3 years funded project)

2018-2020: Dr Chibi Takaya

[project paused to be ressumed]

Waste re-assignment - absorbent clinical waste: Medisort (3 years funded project)

2019-2020: Emma Hookham

[early termination of project]

Plasma vapour depostion of metallic materials (2 years funded project)

2021-2022: Felicity Boyce

[resumed Medisort project]

Waste re-assignment - absorbent clinical waste: Medisort (3 years funded project) 

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Projects on developing polymer materials, hydrogel, nanocomposites for biomedical and environmental applications. Particular interest in biomaterials, drug delivery systems, nanoparticles as catalyst and antibacterial agents, materials/methods for water decontamination.

I am leading research on Candida albicans immunomodulation of skin and mucosa responses and how this may affect the progression of inflammatory skin diseases and the healing of chronic wounds.

I have been involved in the supervision, mentoring, and training of final-year and master's students exploring biomaterials, targeted therapeutics, and biological assays.

MRes Supervision - Faye Abdullah (2023-present) - "Ophthalmic medical devices to treat oxidative stress at the anterior eye by sustained delivery of radical scavengers"