Post-Doc
Joined the lab: April 2020
Background and Current Projects: I obtained my PhD in 2017 with Professor Nicholas J. Turner at Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester, then moved to Professor David Leys’ group at the institute as a post-doctoral research associate. In April 2020, I joined the group of Professor Florian Hollfelder at Cambridge Biochemistry Department to exploit microfluidic-based ultrahigh-throughput technology for enzyme discovery and development. My research focuses on exploring metagenomic and directed evolution libraries to identify and develop new biocatalysts capable of catalysing synthetically challenging and industrially important chemical transformations to support green manufacturing technologies.
I am originally from Nigeria where I studied for a degree in Pharmacy (Ahmadu Bello University), worked initially as clinical pharmacist with expertise in treatment of infectious diseases, and later as a regulatory affairs officer with (Nigerian) National agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC, Lagos).
Interests: Outside of work, I enjoy watching football leagues’ matches, spending time with family and I volunteer as a youth mentor in a local church.
Selected Publications
- Aleku G. A., Prause C., Bradshaw-Allen R. T., Plasch K., Glueck S. M., Bailey S. S., Payne K. A. P., Parker D. A., Faber K. and Leys D. (2018) Terminal Alkenes from Acrylic Acid Derivatives via Non‐ Oxidative Enzymatic Decarboxylation by Ferulic Acid Decarboxylases. ChemCatChem, 10, (17): 3736–3745.
- France S. P., Aleku G. A., Sharma M., Mangas-Sanchez J., Howard R. M., Steflik J., Kumar R., Adams R. W., Slabu I., Crook R., Grogan G., Wallace T. W. and Turner N. J., (2018) Biocatalytic Routes to Enantiomerically Enriched Dibenz[c,e]azepines. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 56, (49): 15589–15593.
- Aleku G. A., France S. P., Man H., Mangas-Sanchez J., Montgomery S. L., Leipold F., Hussain S., Sharma M., Grogan G. & Turner N. J. (2017). “ A Reductive Aminase from Aspergillus Oryzae” Nature Chem. 9: 961–969.
- Aleku, G. A.; Henry, M.; Scott, P. F.; Friedemann, L.; Shahed, H.; Laura, T.-G.; Rebecca, M.; Sam, H.; Johan, P. T .; Gideon, G.; Nicholas, J. T . (2016). “Stereoselectivity and Structural Characterisation of an Imine Reductase (IRED) from Amycolatopsis Orientalis”. ACS Catal. 6:3880- 3889.
