Academics/ PostDocs/ PhDs/ Alumni
Alumni
The EPSRC Next Generation Biomaterials Discovery Programme Grant has been successfully running since November 2015, during which we have had the pleasure of working with top-quality scientists from around the world, with representatives from 5 continents. We are proud of the diverse range of people we have been able to attract to this exciting field of research with 42% female scientists. One of the great benefits of an EPSRC programme grant has been its ability to fund post-doctoral positions linked across different disciplines. These early career researchers have been able to use the programme grant as a stepping stone in their careers, allowing some to move into positions within academia and others to get the right job for them in industry. Roughly half of our alumni have gone to work in Industry or other roles while the other half moved roles within academia. Three of these took up independent academic fellowships. A more detailed breakdown of this career progression data is given in the pie-charts below.



Alumni
Previously a PostDoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Pharmacy working on Determining Biomaterial Design Rules in RC1.
We said farewell to Paulius in November 2018. He is now a Postdoc fellow at AstraZeneca, Sweden and working on a 2nd PhD.
Previously a Postdoctoral
Research Fellow: School of Pharmacy, Stem Cell Biology.
Mahetab left the grant in 2020, and now works as a University Academic Fellow in Predictive Disease Models at the University of Leeds.
Previously a PostDoctoral Research Fellow in the Faculty of Engineering, working on making polymer particles from microfluidics in RC1.
We said farewell to Simon in November 2017, and he now works as a Senior Research Scientist at Promethean Particles Ltd.
Karl Firth
Previously a PostDoctoral Research Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, working on cardiomyocyte maturation in RC3.
We said farewell to Karl in November 2017 and he has taken up a position with Clyde Biosciences.
Benoit Couturaud
Previously a PostDoctoral Research Fellow: School of Pharmacy, Molecular Therapeutics and Formulation Division working on polymers for drug delivery in RC2
We said farewell to Benoit in August 2016
and he has taken up a Marie Curie Fellowship at The University of Warwick with
Professor Rachel O’Reilly and Kristopher Thurecht (The University of Queensland).
Previously a PostDoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Pharmacy, working on combinatorial screening of biomaterial surface chemistry and topography in RC1.
We said farewell to Britta at the end of January 2018. She is currently working as a Marketing Manager for _fbeta GmbH in Berlin, Germany.
Blessing Mukonoweshuro
Previously a PostDoctoral Research Fellow in Immunology and Biomaterials, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, working on immunology in RC4.
We said farewell to Blessing in November 2017 and he has taken up a position as an Intellectual Property and Innovation Officer at the Quadram Institute in Norwich.
Marta Alvarez Paino
Previously a PostDoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Pharmacy, working on polymer microparticles for regenerative medicine in RC3.
We said farewell to Marta in July 2018, and she is working in a pharmaceutical
company in Spain.
Previously a Postdoctoral Research Fellow: School of Pharmacy, Molecular Therapeutics and Formulation Division working on polymers for drug delivery in RC2.
We said farewell to Nishant in September 2018 and he has taken up a position at Laboratoire des Systèmes Complexes Hors Équilibre, University of Strasbourg, France.
Previously a PostDoctoral Research Fellow: School of Life Sciences working on microbiology in RC4. .
We said farewell to Manuel in September 2018. He has taken up a Research Fellow position at the University of Nottingham.
Previously Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Pharmacy.
Thais left the grant in 2020 after working as part of RC2, researching drug treatments for triple negative breast cancer and now has a CAPES/Print international fellowship at Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), Brazil.
Previously a PostDoctoral Research Fellow: School of Pharmacy, Molecular Therapeutics and Formulation Division
Amanda left in March 2019 after working in RC2 and now works at the University of Birmingham as a Senior Research Fellow and PERCAT rep for the School of Chemistry.
Previously a Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Hassan's work Investigated the impact of some known M1 and M2 biased polymers on in vitro liver fibrosis model. He started a post-doctral fellow role in the School of Life Sciences in 2021.
Previously Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Pharmacy.
Laurence left the project in 2020 after working as part of RC1 on combinatorial screening of biomaterial surface chemistry and topography.
Previously a PhD Student, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences.
Jordan came to the end of his PhD in 2020 and now works in Australia at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney.
Previously a Postdoctoral Research Fellow: School of Life Sciences.
Matt joined the project in 2017 working on immunology in RC4 and left us in 2021 to work at Aston University as a Technology Transfer Manager.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow: School of Pharmacy
Patricia joined the grant in 2019 and worked as part of RC2, researching drug treatments for triple negative. She left to work in the same field at Astra Zeneca in 2021.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow: School of Pharmacy.
Scarlett joined the project in 2020 worked on combinatorial screening of biomaterial surface chemistry and topography in RC1. She is currently working on a related UKRI Covid-19 project at the University of Nottingham.
PhD student, School of Pharmacy
Main supervisor Hyun Kim
Joris joined the project in 2017 working on developing mass spectrometry strategies for examination of cellular responses in media and on complex surfaces, mainly associated with RC1. He attainded his PhD in 2021 and took up a Post Doctral position at Radboud University, Netherlands.
Alessandra joined the project in 2016 and worked on Multi-Component Polymerization (MCP) Reactions for Biomedical Materials, mainly associated with RC2. Alessandra gained her PhD in 2020 and started work as R&D associate at Reckitt Benckiser, Italy.
PhD Student, School of Chemistry
Main supervisor Steve Howdle
Dara joined the project in 2016 and worked on new and renewably sourced sustainable functional degradable polymers, mainly associated with RC2. Dara attainded her PhD in 2020 and is currently working as a Business Development and Operations Associate at Exactmer, London.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow: School of Pharmacy
Robert joined the grant in 2019 and worked as part of RC2, researching drug treatments for triple negative breast cancer. Robert took up a new role at the University of Nottingham in 2021 linked to the EPSRC IRC in Targeted Delivery for Hard-to-Treat Cancers.
PhD Student, Faculty of Engineering
Main supervisor Derek Irvine
Valentina joined the project in 2016 working on Continuous Sustainable Synthesis of Polymeric Resins for use in the Construction of 3D structures. Initially she was mainly associated with RC2 but increasingly linked to RC3. Valentina passed her PhD in 2021 and took up a post doctoral position in the Faculty of Engineering, here at the University of Nottingham.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Pharmacy
Francesco joined the project in 2016 as a PhD student and as a Post Doc after completing his PhD, continuing to work on novel polymer microparticles and their influence on mesenchymal stem cell behaviour, associated with RC3. Francesco returned to Italy in 2021.