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Clive Roberts

Chair of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology/Director, Nottingham Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Centre, Faculty of Science

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Biography

I originally trained as a Physicist, receiving my PhD in 1991 from Imperial College, London on the construction of a novel Scanning Tunnelling Microscope and its application in nanolithography. I subsequently took up a postdoctoral position in the Laboratory of Biophysics and Surface Analysis (LBSA), a Research Division of the School of Pharmacy, (www.nottingham.ac.uk/lbsa), The University of Nottingham under the direction of Martyn Davies, Saul Tendler and David Jackson.

In 1994 I took up an academic position in the School of Pharmacy as a Lecturer in Biophysics, and in 2001 as Reader in Biomedical Nanotechnology. In January 2005 I was promoted to the post of Chair of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology. During this time the LBSA has gained an internationally leading reputation and track record in scanning probe microscopy and surface chemical analysis of pharmaceuticals, polymers and biomaterials and remains the only grouping to receive the GlaxoSmithKline International Achievement Award (2003), given for "internationally recognized work on drug delivery and new techniques for surface and interface analysis". The LBSA was also an important element in the recent award to the School of Pharmacy of a Queens Award for Enterprise (Innovation), 2007 for "…enhancing significantly the development of new medicines."

Late in 2005 I took up the additional role of the Director of the Nottingham Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Centre (nnnc), The University of Nottingham. This new £3.3M Centre is an equal collaboration between the Schools of Pharmacy, Chemistry, Physics and Materials. The nnnc offers a range of state of the art analytical facilities and is home to an innovative Masters in Nanoscience (www.nottingham.ac.uk/nano). In addition, I was also the lead academic applicant for, and now a Director on the Board of, eminate Ltd, a new £6.5M DTi funded Nanotechnology centre in the City of Nottingham focussed on the manufacture of pharmaceutical nanomaterials (www.eminate.co.uk).

I am also a co-founder and Technical Development Director of a successful spin-out from the LBSA, Molecular Profiles Ltd (www.molprofiles.com), itself a recent recipient of a number of awards including a Queens Award for Enterprise.

Research Summary

My research interests are concentrated on the nanoscale analysis of pharmaceuticals and biomaterials. Priority areas are,

· the application of probe based methods to early stage screening of formulation materials based upon quantitative physical measurements.

· the development of novel probe based instrumentation.

· structural and functional studies of peptide and protein assemblies.

I employ a range of advanced scanning probe techniques complemented by approaches such as electron microscopy, thermal analysis, surface plasmon resonance, quartz crystal microbalance and multi-cantilever sensors. This work involves many collaborations with colleagues within the LBSA, the School of Pharmacy, and in the Schools of Physics, Chemistry and Materials as well as nationally and internationally. This work also now incorporates activities within the Nottingham Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Centre and eminate Ltd a new DTi funded Nanotechnology centre in the City of Nottingham focussed on the manufacture of pharmaceutical nanomaterials.

Funding for this work is drawn from the EPSRC, BBSRC, EU and industry, including AstraZeneca, 3M Healthcare, Unilever, Abbott Vascular, NittoDenko, Johnson and Johnson and the National Physical Laboratory. I was also recently an applicant involved in The School of Pharmacy receiving the Queens Award for Enterprise (Innovation), 2007 for "…enhancing significantly the development of new medicines."In my academic career, I have published over 220 scientific papers. Currently I am the principal supervisor for 6 Postgraduates and 3 Research Fellows and co-supervisor for 6 Postgraduates and 5 Research Fellows. In all I have supervised over 63 PhD students and mentored over 30 postdoctoral fellows.

Memberships of Committees and Professional Bodies

· Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society.

· Member of the Institute of Physics.

· Associate Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

· Member of the Nanotechnology Taskforce.

· Member of Analytical Biosciences Group, Royal Society of Chemistry.

· Editorial Board of Pharmaceutical Technology Europe.

· Editorial Advisory Board Member of the Open Drug Delivery Journals.

· Member of the Expert Review Group Translation Awards for Wellcome.

TeachingI give lectures and workshops in the following modules, B31C07: Pharmaceutical Technology and B34HAK: Biophysical and Computational Methods. I am module convener for B31C07.

I take laboratory classes in B31A09: Practical Dispensing and the Science of Medicines Manufacture and B31C06: Laboratory Studies in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacology and supervise a number of undergraduate students in B34G07 Project Study 1 and Project Study 2.

I also teach on a number of lecture and practical based modules in the Nanoscience Masters course.

I am an external examiner on a Masters course in Nanotechnology at the University of Swansea

Selected Publications

School of Pharmacy

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