Paul Barker

Paul Barker is an Associate Professor in the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge. His multidisciplinary research group focuses on the design, engineering, and evolution of metalloproteins, integrating expertise in molecular biology, protein chemistry, electrochemistry, and inorganic synthesis. His work spans fundamental studies of heme proteins to the development of enzymes with unnatural metal cofactors for catalysis, with applications in synthetic biology and sustainable chemical production.

Education:

• B.Sc. (Joint Honours) in Chemistry and Biochemistry from Imperial College
• D.Phil. from Oxford University (Queen's College)

His research interests center on bioinorganic chemistry, particularly metalloprotein engineering and enzyme evolution. He investigates how proteins manipulate electron transfer reactions to develop novel electronic sensing systems and explores molecular evolution with non-natural metals to expand biosynthetic pathways for sustainable chemical production. This work bridges fundamental science and applications in synthetic biology.

Scientific Awards and Fellowships:

• Issac Walton Killam Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of British Columbia
• MRC Fellowship at the MRC Centre for Protein Engineering
• BBSRC Advanced Fellowship

Professor Barker has a strong commitment to graduate education, having served on multiple graduate education committees at the Department, School, and University levels. He also spent 18 years as a Fellow of Downing College, where he served as Director of Studies for Chemistry for 10 years and supported graduate student activities as an Undergraduate and Graduate Tutor.

He runs a research group dedicated to advancing the understanding and application of metalloproteins, with a focus on creating novel electronic and catalytic proteins for biotechnology.