Biology and Chemistry workshops
Attendees have the opportunity to attend two workshops on the day from the following selection. Click the plus sign for further information.
Workshop overview
Production of industrial chemicals is changing. Using bio-based systems and components we are approaching time when the compounds we need can be created via green methods from ever more renewable feedstocks. Along with this revolution, we are also experiencing a shift in the way science is done. Both universities and industry are now beginning to value more widely-applicable, skill sets which draw aspects from multiple areas of science, engineering and informatics. All this means we need a new generation of versatile scientists who are primed and enthused to address the global challenges of tomorrow.
Presenter biography
Nick Weise is a Teaching and Research Associate within the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, where he is investigating the discovery, engineering and application of enzymes for the production of industrial chemicals. He read Molecular Biology within the University of Manchester’s Faculty of Life Sciences before moving on to complete a PhD within the Department of Chemistry and Centre of Excellence in Biocatalysis.
Subject area
Chemistry, Biology
Location
Roscoe Building, Room 1.008
Workshop overview
Chronic stress leads to increases in the hormone cortisol which in turn regulates many aspects of metabolism. Our research uses an in vivo model to study how chronic increases in cortisol alter the neuropeptides in the brain to increase food intake and deposition of fat. We are currently knocking out genes in the brain to investigate central vs peripheral effects which cause weight gain and insulin resistance.
Presenter biography
Anne White gained her PhD in Cell Biology at The University of Manchester and has pursued a translational research career. She is currently Head of NeuroSystems in the Faculty of Life Sciences. Anne began her research career by developing monoclonal antibodies to steroid and peptide hormones to improve diagnostic approaches to endocrine diseases. This led to the identification of defects in prohormone processing in endocrine tumours. In extending her interests in prohormone processing to neuropeptides regulating food intake she underpinned research into novel mechanisms causing childhood obesity. Recent work has focused on how maternal programming leading to obesity in the offspring is associated with epigenetic changes in hypothalamic peptides.
Subject areas
Biology, life sciences
Location
Roscoe Building, Room 1.003
Workshop overview
Growing populations and changing climates – a combination described by Sir John Beddington as the “Perfect Storm” – mean global farming faces unprecedented challenges. We need to grow more crops, with no more land and, preferably, fewer chemicals. This session will discuss some of the ways this challenge may be met, getting photosynthesis to work better.
Presenter biography
Giles Johnson completed a BSc in Biochemistry and a PhD in Plant Ecophysiology at the University of Sheffield. He then worked in a biophysics lab, in a nuclear research institute near Paris, and a biochemisty lab in Germany before taking up a position as Lecturer in Ecology in Manchester.
Subject areas
Biology, plant science
Location
Roscoe Building, Room 1.009
Workshop overview
Traditional methods in the chemical industry often rely on harsh conditions, expensive and unsustainable catalysts/solvents, incurring high energy demand and damage to the environment. Enzymes are natural catalysts found in all organisms and, as such can be sourced renewably and allow chemical transformations under mild conditions. The aim of biocatalysis research is to use enzymes to replace or integrate into production strategies, making them suitable for this via biomolecular engineering and/or assembly of multienzyme cascades.
Presenter biography
Juan Mangas-Sanchez is a Research Associate at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology involved in the development of new enzymatic strategies for the preparation of chiral amines. He completed a BSc and PhD in Organic Chemistry at the University of Oviedo, Spain, and postdoctoral research in Lund, Sweden, before taking up his current position in Manchester.
Subject areas
Chemistry, biotechnology
Location
Roscoe Building, Room 4.2
Workshop overview
Shortly after the discovery of radioactivity it was thought to have health benefits, yet now it is considered harmful. Electricity production from nuclear fission can be safely managed providing that we are able to identify and trace radioactive waste products. I will discuss myths surrounding radioactivity and show how the fluorescence of uranium can be used to help clean up nuclear wastes in the environment. Topics include:
- The phenomenon of fluorescence-molecules that emit light
- Radioactivity and the environment-managing and tracking waste
- Biological chemistry of uranium with bacteria
Presenter biography
Louise Natrajan is a Reader in Chemistry at the University of Manchester. She studied at the University of York (UK) and received her PhD from The University of Nottingham (UK) with Professor Polly Arnold. She then moved to the CEA, Grenoble, France as a PDRA with Dr Marinella Mazzanti and then moved back to the UK as a PDRA with Professor Stephen Faulkner at the University of Manchester. In 2008, she was awarded an EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellowship and in 2012 a Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership award. Her current research focuses on the coordination chemistry and optical properties of f-elements.
Subject area
Chemistry
Location
Roscoe Building, Room 2.10
Workshop overview
Modern imaging techniques are helping us understand the brain basis of cognition. This has implications for understanding healthy brain development and also for understanding how brain function breaks down, for example in neurodegenerative diseases.
Presenter biography
Rebecca Elliott is a Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry in the Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health, Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences. Her first degree in Natural Sciences followed by a PhD in Experimental Psychology. She spent three years at UCL learning brain imaging techniques before moving to Manchester in 1999.
Subject areas
Biology, life sciences
Location
Roscoe Building, Room 1.001