Aston University, PhD, Biomaterials and Biomolecular Sciences

Research interests: Synthetic biomaterials; including dermal delivery systems; inter-vertebral; disc replacements; synthetic cornea; contact lenses; together with synthetic analogues of lung surfactant; tears; and synovial fluid; smart macro-molecular systems including scintillating polymers with in-built assay capability for combinatorial chemistry; quantum dot-containing materials for optically encoding chemistry; functional polymers as chemically re-active supports for synthesis and affinity purification and sensors for biomolecules and toxic analytes; the study of the role of lipid biochemistry in plants and mammalian systems; lipid analytical techniques based on GC-MS and LC-MS platforms are used to characterise plant derived products to investigate their oxidative stability and potential nutraceutical/cosmaceutical properties; analysis of human lipid samples derived from tear film; erythrocytes and neural tissues are used to evaluate ocular health and clinical pathologies associated with ageing (e.g. Alzheimer's) and for monitoring the effects of dietary intervention with omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on these conditions.