Postdoc
Joined the Hollfelder group: October 2024
Background and Current Projects: I studied Chemistry and Mathematics through the Natural Sciences program at Durham University, graduating in 2017. I then spent a year working in industrial labs, with 6 months performing chiral chromatography at Reach Separations in Nottingham and 6 months as a Forensic Drugs Analyst at Eurofins in Teddington. In 2018-2019 I studied an MRes in Green Chemistry, Energy and Environment at Imperial College London. I undertook a 9-month research project with Profs Jason Hallett and Karen Polizzi on modifying and stabilising enzymes in ionic liquids to improve biocatalysis. Since this project I have maintained a collaboration with this group using ionic liquid-based formulations to stabilise therapeutic proteins. For my PhD I worked with Profs Ian Thompson and Wei Huang in the department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Oxford. My research focussed on the sustainable and renewable production of wax esters using the bacterium Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1. Fermentation-derived mixed volatile fatty acids, which can be produced from a wide range of organic wastestreams, were investigated as the substrate for bacterial growth and production.
My main research interests are around the sustainable production, utilisation and degradation of chemicals, with a particular focus on how these can be done using biological tools. My research in the Hollfelder group is part of the Preventing Plastic Pollution with Engineering Biology (P3EB) project, in which we are using high-throughput screening methods to evolve plastic-degrading enzymes.
Interests: I’m passionate about teaching and educational access and opportunities, and have a Teaching Bye-Fellowship in Chemistry at Lucy Cavendish college. I’ve also been a campanologist (bell ringer) for over 10 years! In my free time I enjoy swimming, walking, travelling and going to concerts.
Publications
- Unveiling the Rational Development of Stimuli-Responsive Silk Fibroin-Based Ionogel Formulations. Shmool T.A., Martin L.K., Jirkas A., Matthews R.P., Constantinou A.P., Vadukul D.M., Georgiou T.K., Aprile F.A., and Hallett J.P.. Chemistry of Materials 2023 35 (15), 5798-5808. Link.
- The effect of nutrient limitation on bacterial wax ester production. Martin L.K., Huang W.E. and Thompson I.P. Bioresource Technology Reports 22.Link.
- Ionic Liquid-Based Strategy for Predicting Protein Aggregation Propensity and Thermodynamic Stability. Shmool T.A., Martin L.K., Matthews R.P., and Hallett J.P. JACS Au 2022 2 (9), 2068-2080. Link.
- An experimental approach probing the conformational transitions and energy landscape of antibodies: a glimmer of hope for reviving lost therapeutic candidates using ionic liquid. Shmool T.A., Martin L.K., Bui-Le L., Moya-Ramirez I., Kotidis P., Matthews R.P., Venter G.A., Kontoravdi C., Polizzi K.M., and Hallett J.P. Chemical Science 2021 12, 9528– 9545.Link.
- Bacterial wax synthesis. Martin L.K., Huang W.E., and Thompson I.P. Biotechnology Advances 2021 46. Link.
- Exploring conformational preferences of proteins: ionic liquid effects on the energy landscape of avidin. Shmool T.A.*, Martin L.K.*, Clarke C.J., Bui-Le L., Polizzi K.M., and Hallett J.P. Chemical Science 2020 12, 196-209.Link.
