PhD in Biomedical Sciences UK

I currently supervise Ph.D. students who work at the interface between biochemistry and microbiology. Current Ph.D. students in the group are involved in studies of the protein-protein interactions involved in the activity of bacterial colicins in Escherichia coli and the use of Next Generation Sequencing approaches for the analysis of changes in the fungal and bacterial microbiota of the mammalian gut in response to stressors.

I also have interests in mechanisms of resistance to antibiotics, the development of novel antimicrobial agents and the use of proteomics and biological mass spectrometry for the study of microbial stress responses.

I am always happy to hear from enthusiastic and motivated individuals. Please contact me if you wish to discuss a potential PhD project in any of these or related areas.

Nigel's research interests cover many aspects of Biochemistry with a focus on strucutral biology with respect to DNA damage and repair. More recently, Nigel has interests in the field of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure. Nigel is applying various biochemical approaches to attempt solve the big problems that are presented by the these conditions.

Nigel has supervised MSc and PhD level students and is currently co-supervisor of a pharmacy PhD student who is researching biomarkers of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD).

I am interested in supervising postgraduate research students in the area of ecotoxicology/marine biology:  pollutants impact on marine organisms, biomarkers of stress in aquatic invertebrates, microplastics as vector for marine pollutants, transgenerational effects of aquatic pollutants.  

Lipidomics has a wide range of applications in projects related to health, disease, food security and energy. I am particularly interested in supervising PhD students who have an interest in using lipidomics to tackle global challenges. Example lipid-related projects might investigate the mechanism of action of chemicals that target membranes e.g. alcohols, drug or other chemical toxins; antioxidant compounds that protect against oxidative stress for health, disease or food security applications; strategies for increasing lipid-based biofuel production; or lipid-based drug delivery systems. Please contact me if you wish to discuss making a PhD application in areas relating to lipidomics or 3D printing.

To date I have overseen the supervision, career development and successful completion of 12 doctoral students from the UK, Italy, Portugal, Cameroon, Nigeria, Brazil and India. These PhD's have covered a range of topics such as 'Bacteriophages as Surrogates of Viral Pathogens in Wastewater Treatment Systems (Dias 2016)', Ecological Characteristics of the Enterococcal Surface Protein (esp) gene with reference to microbial source tracking (Yaliwal 2014); Low-cost physico-chemical disinfection of human excreta in emergency settings (Sozzi 2015); Bacteriophages as Indicators of Human Enteric Viruses in Mussels (Da Silva 2013); and UV Radiation Response of Bacteriophages of Human-specific Bacteroides (Diston, 2010) .

I am currently supervising a water industry-funded PhD student who is using cutting-edge source apportionment approaches to investigate drivers of pollution in Chichester, Langstone and Pagham harbours (S. England) and have just finished supervising a PhD on Pollution, plastics and plumes; understanding the behaviour of microplastics in aquatic sediments of the R. Thames catchment.

I'm keen to supervise postgraduate research (MRes/MPhil/PhDs) in the following areas: development and application of low-cost and/or rapid water quality monitoring tools; behaviour of micro-contaminants (particularly viruses) within the environment and impacts on human health; understanding environmental interactions of emerging contaminants; water and sanitation within low-income and/or emergency settings.

According to French Physiologist Claude Bernard - "The science of life is a superb and dazzlingly lighted hall which may be reached only by passing through a long and ghastly kitchen." Anyone who has undertaken a doctoral degree is likely to agree with this analogy (at least at some point during their journey). As a PhD supervisor, I see my role as someone who can potentially make the kitchen a little less ghastly, or the journey slightly less arduous. I strive to provide a highly connected, supportive, nurturing international research environment with the Environment and Public Health Research and Enterprise Group.

I am currently supervising a further 3 PhD candidates. My PhD students have originated from an equally diverse range of disciplines including Fisheries Engineering, Environmental Science, Biology, Biomolecular Science, Microbiology, Ecology, Environmental Management, Mathematics and have worked for NGO’s in Haiti (MSF), on Gates Foundation-funded research in India, on US AID-funded research into safe excreta disposal in emergencies (Cholera and Ebola treatment centres), led MRC-funded projects in Kenya, founded research groups in Brazil, and managed prestigious research laboratories in the US.

All have gone on to forge careers within the burgeoning field of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and or microbiology, either via academia, or industry. The sustained success of our thriving research group stems from a blend of enthusiasm for the wider subject area and from a long-held desire to break down barriers, to ensure that epidemiologists mix with engineers, and microbiologists work with modellers. This has been achieved by exchanging PhD students (and Early Career Researchers) with trusted and established international project collaborators within the public, private and voluntary sectors.

I also maintain a rolling programme of group activities, training initiatives and social events for new arrivals into the group, which is increasingly populated by previous PhD students who are even better placed to support the career aspirations of our current and future Doctoral students. With unsafe water supply and sanitation responsible for an estimated 842,000 deaths per year, the WASH sector continues to face significant challenges, which are only likely to be met through interdisciplinary, cross-border collaboration by a new generation of WASH-focussed researchers, capable of confidently sharing ideas across a range scientific domains and via an increasingly complex network of stakeholders and end-users. I hope that as my students continue to emerge into the ‘dazzlingly lighted hall’ they are as well-rounded and well-placed as possible to meet this challenge.   

I have supervised students in the areas of cellular senescence (looking at multiple cell types including T cells and vascular smooth muscle cells), ocular wound healing, genomics, synthetic chemistry and the inflammatory response to biomaterials. I have also supervised students studying the accelerated ageing disease Werner's syndrome.  This is my academic first love.

My students have won medals for the quality of their theses and gone on to post doctoral positions in chemistry and life science departments in the United States as well as research institutes in Israel.  They hold senior academic positions at Universities and have been prestigious Marie Curie Fellows.  They have also enjoyed success in scientific publishing.

I am currently supervising work on the impact of senescence on the performance of bioartificial livers with a view to using the novel anti-senescence compounds we have developed to enhance the efficiency of these devices and keep patients alive and healthy until a suitable transplant donor can be found. 

I am happy to discuss these or any related research areas.

I currently lead a dynamic Cancer Stress Team consisting of PhD students, medical students, masters students and post docs. We study the effects of stress hormones on cell signaling, drug resistance and immunity in breast, ovarian and prostate cancers.  My passion is mentoring students with a strong interest in becoming cancer researchers. We welcome driven, enthusiastic members to our team!

PhD Students

Marta Falcinelli Oct 2016-Oct 2019

Haya Intablis Jan 2016-Dec 2019

Maysa Maysa Al-Natsheh Jan 2017-Jan 2020

Gheed Alhity Jan 2019-Dec 2021

Post Doctoral Scientists (as of 2020)

Dr Aya Abdullah

Dr Caroline Garrett

Dr Will Jones

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 happy to collaborate in projects and supervise post-graduate students in the broad field of medical and pharmaceutical microbiology, with a particular emphasis for projects involving clinically-relevant fungi and involving other healthcare-associated and non-academic industrial partners.

I am interested the in the absorption of drugs and particulates (including air pollution) in the nose and lung and their effect on permeability (cell junctions).  A particular interest is the role of mucus and mucociliary clearance in drug/particulate delivery to the airways. Further, I am interested in the local toxicity of inhaled compounds and I have extended this to studying the health implications of treated water using cell-based assays. I have supervised 11 successful PhD students and five postdoctoral scientists.

Current projects available for supervision include: 

1. The delivery of drugs and particles to the nose and lungs, particularly the use of in vivo-reflective in vitro cell culture models of the airway epithelium (PhD/MRes) https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0939-6411(21)00202-2

2. The role mucus and mucociliary clearance plays in drug and particulate delivery to the nose and lungs. (PhD)

3. Use of powders to deliver drugs to the nasal cavity (PhD/MRes)

4. The role of mucus in biopharmaceutical models of the nose (absorption and biocompatibility) (PhD)

5. The use of high-speed imaging to study the role of mucus on the deposition behaviour of droplets and particles in the nasal cavity (PhD)

6. Determining the impact of ultra-fine particulate air pollution (UFPs) on mucus secretion, ciliary activity and epithelial permeability in the young and ageing lung. Do UFPs accelerate lung ageing? (PhD/MRes)

A large proportion of my previous research has focused on how nuclear receptors control transcription and thus control how cells respond on the long term to pathogens and chronic disease states.Projects on offer involve:1. Understanding how nuclear receptors may be manipulated to ensure a rapid response to new pathogens without harming the patient2. Changing cell function using nuclear receptor agonists to manipulate human blood derived progenitor cells to create new organs such as lung and deepening our understanding of how PPARβδ receptors control inflammation and disease. Two other in vitro projects in collaboration with other universities; to isolate or identify hit compounds to control diabetes and pancreatic cancer. One set of compounds have been isolated form natural plant products from Gabon (the extract is already in use to control diabetes in humans), while the other screening cascade involves compounds have been designed via computational chemistry Collaborators: Hertfordshire University and IPHAMETRA institute, Gabon.

I supervise doctoral and MRes students broadly in the field of Water Recycling/Reuse which often have a focus in advancing treatment technology and/or a regulatory focus. A student may well select to focus on wastewater treatment or potable treatment processes whilst gaining a holistic understanding of the water treatment cycle. I enjoy supervising projects which have real-life applications and guiding students to develop research skills that are applicable for their future careers.

My supervisory interests are:

• Development of composite electrodes for bioanalytical monitoring;
• Exploring the signalling mechanisms of the bowel and bladder epithelium
• Development of innovative e-learning tools

Throughout my career I had the priviledge of supervision undergraduates and post-graduate student with a range of backgrounds; from biologist to biomedical scientists, from engineers to students with a pharmaceutical and clinical background. I have been introducing them to my widespread UK and international network and proud to see many of them flourishing in their academic, clinical or industrial career.

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 Brighton 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 Brighton, 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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I currently supervise PhD, MSc and undergraduate MPharm students.  The projects that my research students are studying include: investigating the mechanisms through which a common drug used to treat schizophrenia can lead to diabetes, the extent to which a new drug used to treat prostate cancer (enzalutamide) interacts with a drug used to prevent the blood from clotting, using genetics to predict patients that are at a high risk of developing an adverse drug reaction.  I supervise projects where data collection occurs in both the laboratory and the patient facing enviroment.  I am very interested in supervising students studing a range of research topics in both the laboratory, the clinic and using computer simulations, particulalry in the area of ageing, pharmacokietics (the study of how the body deals with drug molecules over time) and pharmacodynamics (how drugs interact with the body), and pharmacogenetics (how our genes influence drug response and disposition). 

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 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.

My research is interested in how age-related changes in serotonergic signalling pathways contributes to dementia, age-related motor dysfunction and faecal incontinence. My groups work uses a systems biology approach to study the effects of increased age on the release of serotonin from both central neurons and peripheral enterochromaffin cells and through the use of a range of functional assays explores how these changes link with impairments in learning and memory, motor and bowel function.

I am happy to supervise projects in the area of molecular ecology as well as amphibian ecology and conservation. I am particularly interested in phylogeography and species distribution, invasive species and the application of eDNA methods to conservation.