Our overarching ambition is to create the tools needed to understand and control biological membranes. To achieve this, my group develops new single-molecule methods for optical imaging and creates new forms of artificial membranes. We then actively demonstrate the power of combining these complementary tools by addressing specific outstanding questions facing membrane biology.
We engineer synthetic cells (microparticles that integrate functions inc. sensing, biosynthesis and drug release) and bioinspired nanoparticles for applications inc. drug delivery and biosensing, employing microfluidics and robotics to create high-throughput particle synthesis and testing workflows. Current focuses are in cancer delivery/microenvironment modulation but we are also excited to work in new disease/application areas.
The Richter Lab develop physics and chemistry tools to address bioscience questions that are intractable with conventional methods. We focus on ‘biological interfaces’ such as cell membranes and extracellular matrices: how they regulate inter- and intra-cellular communication and how this can be exploited to direct cell fate decisions, and for diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
Molecular communication (MC) provides a way for nano/microdevices to communicate information over distance via chemical signals in nanometer to micrometer scale environments. To tackle the challenges on the lack of nano/micro-devices capable of processing the time-varying chemical concentration signals, my group aims to design the chemical reaction-based microfluidic MC prototypes with functionalities, including modulation and…
Our research is about tissue repair, with a focus on the extracellular matrix (ECM) in scarring/fibrosis. The fibrotic ECM has altered composition, organisation, stability, topography… We aim to collaborate to: 1) model the different microenvironments and study the instructive nature of ECM on cell biology; 2) design cell and/or material strategies to reprogramme the microenvironment….
My research vision is to solve real-life tribological challenges, from hip joint prosthetics to sustainable food innovation. Versatile measurement tools used in my projects include laser-induced fluorescent labelling to study the dynamics of soft surfaces and optical tribometers enabling analysis of protein films with engineering precision. I have worked on the mechanistic understanding of fat…
My group works on food structure and biofunction, and the underlying biological mechanism, with a particular focus on the bioactive nano-assemblies derived from food and their regulatory capacities in cell redox, taste sensing, absorption, and immune-responses. Examples of potential projects: Functionalise the ECM scaffold surface for optimal tissue culture performance, Glycopeptide production by yeast fermentation,…
My research interests centre around understanding and overcoming the biological barriers to improve drug delivery, with a key focus on enabling injection-free administration of complex drugs (peptides, proteins, nucleic acids). As part of this, I am interested in drug delivery systems, including nanomedicines and engineered exosomes. Finally, aspects of my research relate to the creation…
We develop chemical tools that introduce targeted unnatural post-translational modifications into proteins. These modifications can engineer protein function, for example in a cellular context. We apply high-throughput approaches to enable the discovery of targeted chemical tools, and collaborate widely to apply them.
I use single-molecule imaging to map out protein distributions in 3D in fixed cells or cell-cell contacts to establish how separation between and clustering of proteins influence signalling processes. I also use single-molecule tracking to study how molecules bind to receptors. I have developed single-molecule flow cytometry for charactersing expression of low abundance protein targets…