معرفی
Dr. Sarah Lovelock is a Senior Lecturer in Chemical Biology and Biological Chemistry at The University of Manchester, part of the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB). Her research focuses on developing biocatalytic approaches for synthesizing therapeutic oligonucleotides, leveraging directed evolution and enzyme engineering. She holds a PhD from the University of Manchester (2014), followed by roles at GlaxoSmithKline and as a BBSRC/MRC Innovation Fellow. Key accolades include the Presidential Fellowship and UKRI Future Leader Fellowship. Her work addresses scalable, sustainable manufacturing of oligonucleotides for treating prevalent diseases, supported by advanced MIB infrastructure like automated liquid handling robots and high-throughput facilities.
Education: PhD in Chemical Biology (2014, University of Manchester), supervised by Prof. Nicholas Turner. Postdoctoral roles included Senior Scientist at GSK and a visiting scholar at the University of Washington under Prof. David Baker, specializing in Rosetta-based enzyme design.
Research interests emphasize engineering DNA-modifying enzymes for oligonucleotide synthesis, with applications in mRNA therapeutics and antiviral drug development. Her lab collaborates with industry partners, translating basic research into industrial solutions.
Awards: BBSRC/MRC Innovation Fellowship (2017–2020), Presidential Fellowship (2020), UKRI Future Leader Fellowship (2020).
Grants and Projects: Co-investigator on the £1.1M '21ALERT' project (mass spectrometry innovation) and the 'EBSynerGy' initiative (synthetic biology in yeast). Her research contributes to UN SDGs 3 (Good Health) and 9 (Industry Innovation).
Labs/Teams: Hosted at the MIB, collaborating with Prof. Anthony Green and Prof. David Baker. Her team employs cutting-edge enzyme evolution and computational tools to design novel biocatalysts.
