Materials and Fundamental Applications

Jennifer Hiscock is a Professor of Supramolecular Chemistry (2022) and UKRI Future Leaders Research Fellow in the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Kent (UK). She studied for a PhD in the group of Prof. Phil Gale at the University of Southampton and carried out postdoctoral research in the same group until 2015. Following this she moved to the University of Kent as the Caldin Research Fellow in 2015, she was appointed Lecturer in Chemistry in 2016 and Reader in Supramolecular Chemistry in 2019. Her current research interests focus on the development of her patented Talin Shock Absorbing Material (TSAM) and Supramolecular Self-associating Amphiphile (SSA) technologies for real world applications.

Dr Kaur is a dedicated and research-oriented Assistant Professor with over 14 years of experience in teaching and advanced research in chemistry. Expertise in nanomaterials, environmental remediation, and analytical techniques. Proven track record in publications, patents, and academic contributions with strong interest in innovative materials and foldamer-based systems.

Abigail Knight is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research group works at the interface of chemical biology and polymer science, developing protein-mimetic synthetic macromolecules with biomimetic hierarchical structure.

Dr Geertje van Keulen is Associate Professor in Microbial Biochemistry in the Institute of Life Science in the Medical School at Swansea University. She assembles and leads interdisciplinary research and innovation teams with microbiology at its core, expanding understanding of and sustainably exploiting the chemical and materials properties of microbes and amyloid proteins in living, manufactured and natural (soil) environments.

Aaron takes an interdisciplinary approach based on molecular engineering and biophysical chemistry to pioneer peptides and peptide-mimetic “peptoids” with precise molecular functionalities for antimicrobials, self-assembly, and biomedical applications. He also develops plant-based polyphenol-biopolymer composites as coatings and sustainable materials.

Thompson Group research focuses on structure guided rational design to synthesise molecules that address problems in biology, medicine and materials. The research programme includes:

Protein-protein interaction inhibition
Tools to interrogate protein misfolding conditions
Abiotic foldamers: programmable 3D architectures

Professor Turner's interests lie in the field of molecular recognition, and in particular the development of artificial recognition elements. Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIP) are a simple elegant biomimetic technology where recognition sites, analogous to the binding sites of antibodies, enzymes and receptors are created in polymeric materials containing complementary functionality to a target molecule.

Professor Ian Hamley is Diamond Professor of Physical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Reading.

Dr Alison Edwards is the Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Universities of Greenwich and Kent at Medway. Alison's research interests include the use of chiroptical spectroscopy, the conformational preference of novel foldamer systems and the preparation of supramolecular hydrogels using carbohydrate scaffolds.

Professor Christopher A Hunter FRS is the Herchel Smith Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Emmanuel College. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society and an Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy.