Research Groups

Steel Group

Creating biotechnologies at the interface of control engineering, synthetic biology and robotics.

Papachristodoulou Group

A group researching complex networked control systems, biological and technological with a focus on mathematical modelling.

Huang Group

Research is focused on utilising the tools of synthetic biology to develop reprogrammable cells (SimCells), vehicles for drug delivery and generation of bioenergy.

Biomaterials & Biomechanics Group

We investigate the mechanisms of interaction between biological and synthetic materials to design and engineer new systems for treating diseases such as cancer, chronic infections and neurological disorders.

Foster Lab

We use ecology and evolution to understand and engineer microbial communities, including the human microbiome.

Bayley Group

We use the techniques of protein chemistry, molecular genetics, biophysics and cell biology. Centered on membrane proteins, we investigate both their fundamental properties and their applications in biotechnology.

MacLean Lab

We focused on understanding the fundamental evolutionary processes that drive the spread and maintenance of antibiotic resistance, primarily using controlled in vitro experimental evolution in the opportunistic pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Sweetlove lab

We investigate the behaviour of the metabolic systems of plants in order to devise metabolic engineering strategies that will improve the productivity and quality of crop plants. We use both computational and experimental approaches to achieve this.

Baker Group

We develop and apply mathematical and computational models to study cell and developmental biology at the cell and tissue levels. We aim to create biologically realistic models that, combined with experiments, provide insights into the mechanisms of embryo development.

Molecular Immunology Group

T cells initiate immune responses to clear infections and cancers. They integrate signals from various surface receptors using intracellular signalling molecules. We use quantitative methods to understand this process and enhance human health.

Synoxys Lab

We investigate the signalling mechanisms that link oxygen availability to plant growth and development, to understand adaptations to oxygen fluctuations throughout evolution and to design novel biotechnological strategies.

WCMB Mathematical Institute

We investigate the mechanisms underlying biological processes by building biologically realistic mathematical/computational models, testing and refining them. We use currently available experimental data, and make experimentally verifiable predictions.

Fernandes Group

We apply protein engineering to decipher functional and structural correlates of immune receptor signalling and identify new therapeutic approaches to modulate T cell function in autoimmune, infection and cancer settings.

Louis Group

We apply theoretical and computational tools from statistical mechanics to study how complex behaviour emerges from the interaction of many individual objects. We are particularly interested in biological physics and the dynamics of soft-matter.

Tucker Lab

We investigate the intimate relationship between ion channel structure and function. We focus on their molecular mechanisms at an atomic level and their role in physiology and disease.

Struwe Lab

We investigate the structure-function relationships of protein-linked oligosaccharides through the development of techniques that span protein engineering, chemical biology and mass spectrometry. Our goal is to pin-point individual glycan structures responsible for discrete biological disease processes.

Poole Lab

We study the development of plant roots and their relationships with microbes. Our aim is to engineer transkingdom signalling between plants and bacteria to enhance plant growth.

Tissue Engineering Group

We focus on providing enabling technologies for regenerative medicine, including industrial scale cell/tissue culture in vitro, implantable biomaterials and processing, bio-manufacture of cellular therapeutics, and supply chain of living cells and tissues.

Rijal Group

Our research centers around the influenza neuraminidase protein as a promising target for therapeutic interventions, including antibodies, drugs, and vaccines.

Stevens Group

Our multidisciplinary research balances the investigation of fundamental science with the development of technologies and designer biomaterials to address some of the major healthcare challenges across diagnostics, advanced therapeutics and regenerative medicine.

Davis Group

We investigate the functions of carbohydrates and proteins using methods like organic synthesis and protein engineering. We aim to design and modify therapeutic and biotechnological systems, revealing biological mechanisms and developing new tools for synthetic and chemical biology.

Bashford-Rogers Group

We aim to decipher how the adaptive immune system goes wrong in disease, and how this can be used in diagnostics and therapeutics using cutting-edge experimental and computational approaches.

Schofield Group

We study biomolecular systems, focusing on antibacterial resistance and oxygenase regulation. We specialize in iron and zinc-dependent metallo-enzymes, contributing to antibiotic research and gene regulation. Our work leads to new medicinal interventions and collaborations with industry and clinicians.

Uphoff Lab

We investigate how bacteria adapt to stress by examining DNA repair and mutagenesis. Using advanced microscopy and microfluidic devices, we visualize these processes in real-time, uncovering insights into variable phenotypes and mutation rates.

Kukura Lab

We develop optical microscopy, algorithms and approaches that enable the observation, study and quantification of phenomena that have been thought to be 'invisible'. We aim at improving the measurement and characterisation of biological systems, currently focusing on protein-protein interactions.

Goriely Group

We use mathematical modelling and mechanics to explore morphogenesis, growth, diseases with a special emphasis on plants and the brain.

Baker Lab

We study how cells respond to their environment, focusing on membranes and cellular communities and hybrid structural biology methods. Using electron cryotomography with DNA nanotechnology to tag proteins, we also employ fluorescence microscopy, mass spectrometry, NMR spectroscopy, and other cryoEM techniques.

Yeomans Group

We use theoretical and computational methods to study the physics of soft matter and living systems. We are currently interested in collective behaviour of active systems and mechanobiology.