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Stephen Harding

Professor of Applied Biochemistry, Faculty of Science

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Biography

Born: Wallasey, Wirral 2nd August 1955. Education: Wallasey Grammar and Marple Hall Grammar Schools; Pembroke College, Oxford (MA, 1980). Employment: Lister PostDoc, University of Bristol (81-82); Oppenheimer Postdoc, University of Cambridge (83-84); Supervisor (Queens College, Cambridge, 84); University of Nottingham (84-present). Visiting Professor: Institute für Organische Chemie und Makromolekulare Chemie, Friedrich Schiller Universität, Jena, Federal Republic of Germany (2009-2013). Awards: Royal Society of Chemistry Junior Medallist (1991); Oxford University DSc (2002); Ridder av 1. klasse, den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden, - Knight of the 1st class, the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (2012).

Video of Steve getting DSc - November 2002; Video clip from Steve's Inaugural Lecture - December 2002; Knight's Cross of den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden (photo, M. McCartney); BBC NW coverage of the Award Ceremony - March 2012; BBC's Phillip Bilson plays Bach's Fantasia in G-dur at Steve & Anne's wedding, Thurnby, 2.2.80; Wikipedia Norway list of people from the Wirral Peninsula

Research Summary

Professor Harding has been director of the NCMH (National Centre for Macromolecular Hydrodynamics) for the last 25 years, a period which has seen hydrodynamic methods (analytical ultracentrifugation,… read more

Selected Publications

Current Research

Professor Harding has been director of the NCMH (National Centre for Macromolecular Hydrodynamics) for the last 25 years, a period which has seen hydrodynamic methods (analytical ultracentrifugation, light scattering, viscometry etc.) come from almost oblivion to flourish as tools for biomolecular characterisation. He has published over 360 research papers and 10 books in the field of biomolecular hydrodynamics and applied biochemistry, assisted by grants in which he has been PI totalling over £5M. In recognition for his discoveries he received a junior medal from the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1991 and a DSc from the University of Oxford in 2002. In 2010 he gave the annual Pfizer lecture at the University of Connecticut and in 2012 he was made a Ridder 1. klasse den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden - Knight of the 1st class of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit - by King Harald V of Norway. He is listed on Wikipedia Norway's list of 10 most notable people from the Wirral peninsula. Although he has contributed extensively towards our understanding of the hydrodynamic properties of proteins his main area has been on polysaccharides and glycoconjugates, and in developing methods for understanding their size distributions, conformations and interactions. His current focus is on biopolymer stability in response to bioprocessing, of particular interest to the Biopharma industry where he now draws much of his support.

Development of hydrodynamic methodologies: 1. Molecular weight distributions of polymers using ultracentrifugation. 2. the study of conformation in mixed, aggregated and bioprocessed systems. 3. The non-ideality problem in solution biophysics, and its accurate measurement and prediction using COVOL. Glycobiology research: 1. Polysaccharide conformation and stability in solution; 2. Stability of glycoconjugate vaccines; 3. Polysaccharide interactions in health and disease; 4. Antibody structure and stability in solution; 5. Mucus glycoprotein structure & mucoadhesion. DNA Research: Y-chromosome DNA (with Professor Mark Jobling, University of Leicester). This began with a prestigious Watson-Crick DNA anniversary award from the BBSRC.

Support: The Royal Society, BBSRC, EPSRC, Wellcome Trust, Industrial (GSK Rixensart, Medimmune, Inovo/Glycomix, Kelloggs); Research papers (363): http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ncmh/harding_publish.html; Books (14): Stephen Hardings Amazon.co.uk page and Amazon.com page; Links: Steve's series of 10 lectures from the Friedrich-Schiller Universität, Jena.

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