Contact
Biography
Boyan Bonev studies Engineering Physics at the University of Sofia, Bulgaria. He obtained his PhD in Physics from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, under the supervision of Mike Morrow. He lectured in Physics and worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow in solid state NMR at Memorial. Dr Bonev was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Biochemistry Department, University of Oxford, UK with Tony Watts. He also tutored at St Catherine's College, Oxford. He took a position as Lecturer in Biochemistry at the School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Nottingham, and is presently a Professor of Biophysics at the School of Life Sciences. He is also Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange at the School of life Sciences.
Boyan Bonev has served on BBSRC committee D, EPSRC Peer Review College, MRC Panel on Antimicrobial Resistance, BSAC Drug Discovery and Development Committee. He was also Chair of Diamond Review Panel and a member of the STFC Life Sciences and Soft Materials Panel.
Expertise Summary
nuclear magnetic resonance
membrane biophysics
computational biology
structural biology
antibiotic resistance
drug design
Teaching Summary
Biochemistry, Biophysics, Structural Biology, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
Research Summary
Research in the Bonev lab is focused on the study of the organisation, composition and assembly of cell membranes, the interfaces of life. We seek to understand the role of compositional variation… read more
Selected Publications
WEBB, JOSEPH P., PAIVA, ANA CAROLINA, ROSSONI, LUCA, ALSTROM-MOORE, AMIAS, SPRINGTHORPE, VICKI, VAUD, SOPHIE, YEH, VIVIEN, MINDE, DAVID-PAUL, LANGER, SVEN, WALKER, HEATHER, HOUNSLOW, ANDREA, NIELSEN, DAVID R., LARSON, TONY, LILLEY, KATHRYN, STEPHENS, GILL, THOMAS, GAVIN H., BONEV, BOYAN B., KELLY, DAVID J., CONRADIE, ALEX and GREEN, JEFFREY, 2022. Multi-omic based production strain improvement (MOBpsi) for bio-manufacturing of toxic chemicals METABOLIC ENGINEERING. 72, 133-149 YEH, VIVIEN, GOODE, ALICE, JOHNSON, DAVID, COWIESON, NATHAN and BONEV, BOYAN B., 2022. The Role of Lipid Chains as Determinants of Membrane Stability in the Presence of Styrene LANGMUIR. 38(4), 1348-1359 HUSSAIN, ROHANAH, HUGHES, CHARLOTTE S, JAVORFI, TAMAS, SILIGARDI, GIULIANO, WILLIAMS, PAUL and BONEV, BOYAN B, 2018. To Boil an Egg: Substrate Binding Affects Critical Stability in Thermal Unfolding of Proteins. The journal of physical chemistry. B.
In the Bonev lab we study the structure, function and assembly of biological membranes. We use solid state NMR and other biophysical tools in combination with high performance computing to engineer molecules with desired biological functions and pharmacological properties. The lab also studies the bacterial envelope - peptidoglycan synthesis and inhibition, outer membranes and lipopolysaccharides (LPS), as well as bacterial cytoskeleton.
The lab does in-house solid state NMR analysis and co-hosts the DNP NMR Facility, high-performance GPU computer modelling, molecular cloning combined with biochemical and functional analysis. We work in close collaboration with a number of industrial and academic partners.
Current Research
Research in the Bonev lab is focused on the study of the organisation, composition and assembly of cell membranes, the interfaces of life. We seek to understand the role of compositional variation and stability on function. Molecular tools include solid state NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance), molecular dynamics simulations, synchrotron CD and other advanced biophysical and computational techniques. The team is interested in the molecular mechanisms of infection and bacterial resistance to antibiotics. To understand and tackle bacteria, resistant to antibiotics, they study bacterial physiology and specific molecular targets, which they use to develop new approaches for antimicrobial intervention and bacterial control. Work is funded primarily by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), as well as the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
Past Research
Lipid phases; high-pressure NMR; toxins;
Future Research
We develop:
antibiotic systems for the control of bacteria, resistant to traditional chemotherapy;
mechanisms for rapid detection and preliminary identification of bacteria;
We investigate:
the structure and folding of membrane proteins, specifically, of bacterial outer membrane proteins;