Associate Professor, Faculty of Science
Dr Rawson received a BSc (Hons) degree in Biochemistry from the University of Huddersfield in 2004. As part of his degree he spent a year placement at Covance Laboratories working in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Toxicology. He subsequently returned to Covance after completion of his degree and worked within the Cytogenetics Laboratory. This then led him to study for a PhD in which he developed electrochemical biosensors for detecting toxicity from 3D organotypic liver spheroids under the supervision of Professor John Hart at the University of the West of England. He then moved to New Zealand to undertake a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Canterbury under the guidance of Prof Alison Downard within the Department of Chemistry. His research here focused on the development of conducting surfaces that could "wire" into cell membrane and cell wall redox sites. This allowed for the capture of electrons from cells and shed new light on their biological origin. This was followed by a Post Doc at the University of Birmingham within the Mendes Laboratory in the School of Chemical Engineering. Here he combined his previous skills to develop nanostructured electrodes that could electrochemically communicate with the internal environment of cells. He then moved to Nottingham within the School of Pharmacy in 2013 to take up an Independent Early Career Leverhulme Fellowship.In 2016 he was awarded a Nottingham Research Fellowship and promoted to Associate Professor in 2019.
Dr Rawson's research is truly multidisciplinary spanning the chemical-biology interface. Therefore, his expertise spans multiple disciplines, including Electrochemistry, Cell Surface Biochemistry, Bionanotechnology, Surface Chemistry, Electroceutics, Functional Materials and Biosensors, and Bioelectronics.
Dr Rawson teaches on the Pharmacy module Medical Diagnostics (B34MED) and Masters in Bioengineering module Biomedical Applications of Biomaterials (MM4BAB)
His research interests are to develop smart novel bioelectronic nano-system for studying and controlling cellular processes on a molecular scale. This involves fundamental studies of charge transfer… read more
His research interests are to develop smart novel bioelectronic nano-system for studying and controlling cellular processes on a molecular scale. This involves fundamental studies of charge transfer from prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells in addition to break through methodologies of surfaces functionalization and control on the nano-scale.
Current projects underway include:
Hijacking transplasma membrane electron transport systems (EPSRC)
Electrochemical differentiation of cell states (BBSRC)
Interfacing cells with electrocatalytic sensors for real-time cell communication (Leverhulme Trust)
Advanced manufacturing of macroporous nanoelectronic artificial functional scaffolds for synthetic tissues
The University of Nottingham Centre for Biomolecular Sciences Nottingham, NG7 2RD
telephone: +44 (0) 115 823 1546 email: MS-CCS@nottingham.ac.uk