Re-engineering Templated Nano-materials for Biomacromolecular Recognition in Diagnostic Development

The project objective is to establish and deploy a rational design strategy to deliver nanomaterials with high affinities and selectivities towards an array of biomacromolecular structures and, through proof-of-concept, pave the way for their application in diagnostic or therapeutic contexts.To reach this goal we shall:1.

Elucidate the molecular-level basis for the behavior of biomacromolecule-selective nano-gels and thin films through a combination of theoretical and spectroscopic studies to develop tools for the prediction of their behavior2.

Explore the use of these insights in the development of nanogels and nanostructured surfaces selective for peptides/proteins and virus-like particles, and to investigate the use of renewable biomolecules for nanostructure development.3.

Establish the recognition potential of the materials in three contexts: sensing of the small cell lung cancer biomarker ProGRP signature peptide NLLGLIEAK and detection of both virus-like particles and SARS-CoV-2.This is a collaboration between researchers from materials chemistry, biomedical science, medicine and biotechnology.

In addition to the applicant research group contributions, the project shall engage a PhD student (75% funded from this application) and a research (PhD) engineer position (25%), the latter to support the modelling and material synthesis.The project shall deliver novel nanomaterials for enhancing sensing and biomaterials technologies to facilitate biomarker and virus detection.