Professor Andrew Clark

He is internationally recognised for work in free radical chemistry and synthetic chemistry, in particular the development of copper mediated atom transfer radical cyclisation (ATRC), atropisomeric compounds and the use of renewable or waste vegetable oils for the synthesis of novel polymers, composites and surface coatings. He is currently both a Professor and WIHEA fellow within the Chemistry Department as well as the University Academic Director (UG) within the University Education Executive. Within this team he has collective responsibility for Academic Governance, Teaching Quality and Quality Assurance of all University Undergraduate Degrees (currently 14,967 students, 33 departments, 4 faculties). Other shared responsibilities cover assessment, Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), examinations, student experience, employability and skills, industrial placements and apprenticeship programmes. He has recently co-authored the officially sanctioned AQA A-level Chemisty text book (covering the new syllabus) and is currently commisioned to write new Undergraduate text books on Organic Synthesis (OUP Press) and Stereochemistry (RSC).

While his main area of research expertise is in the chemistry of free radicals, where he actively collaborates with others including Prof. D. Curran (Pittsburg) and Prof. F. Ghelfi (Modena), he has undertaken work in the chemical manipulation of vegetable oils for use in composite polyurethane manufacture (£276,789 grant income from HGCA, DEFRA and EPSRC, GR/S87911/01) as well as processing of natural feedstocks (£475,878, EP/F015321/1). Recently his work has expanded to the application of algae (Euro477,840, BISIGOdos FP7-KBBE-2013-7) in PU production, ligno-cellulosic residues for engineered automotic components and in the application of renewable photocatalysts to renewable 3-D printing (in collaboration with Photocentric Ltd).

In collaboration with Life Sciences and Warwick Manufacturing Group he has secured a patent describing the laboratory mimicking of vegetable oils to enable rapid evaluation of the properties of materials produced from crops (without the need to grow the crops themselves). In the field of devising sustainable alternatives to plastics derived from renewable resources his work has been disseminated to the public via numerous newspaper articles as well displays at the Royal Show (with the Warwick Manufacturing Group), and at public educational displays at the Eden Project. In collaboration with the Eden Project and the Warwick Manufacturing Group he is utilising this technology for the ECO-1 racing car which has appeared on Richard and Judy and Top Gear. He was involved in the development of a sustainable Formula 3 car. He was a founder of VOPNET (Vegetable Oil Polymer Network) an organisation that disseminates research to both academic and industrial organisations, organises networking events for industry and holds a database of expertise for our members to use to provide appropriate business and academic partners for research. Our work was the basis of our invited lecture tour of New Zealand and the Biopolymer Network of New Zealand (Crop & Food Research, Christchurch).

He has previously undergone a year sabbatical learning molecular biology / microbiology (within the group of Prof. G. Challis) as well as a sabbatical at DSM (Zwolle) in the Netherlands gaining knoweldge on industrial problems in renewable polyester formation. He has developed an interest in functional genomics securing a BBSRC Functional Genomics grant (EGM17689-90, £110,568) the results of which led to further BBSRC Follow-on funding (£52,000), a Spinner grant and patent applications.

He is one of four founding Directors of a2sp ltd. a biotech company working in the area of phage display and screening. This is currently trading as Tangent Reprofiling Limited (after capital injection from PepTCell Ltd). ValiSeek Limited is a joint venture company between Valirx plc and Tangent Reprofiling Limited, part of the SEEK Group. ValiSeek was formed to progress the drug VAL401 through its remaining preclinical development and towards clinical trials for the treatment of lung cancer and other oncology indications.

2020 - Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor (Education Policy)

2017- University Academic Director, Education Executive, Senate House, University of Warwick

2017- Professor, Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK.

2016-2017 Chair of the Medical School Fitness to Practice Committee, University of Warwick, UK.

2016- Warwick International Higher Education Fellow, University of Warwick, UK.

2016-2017 Deputy Chair Science Faculty Education Committee, University of Warwick, UK.

2010-2017 Director of Undergraduate Studies, Chemistry Department, University of Warwick, UK.

2006-2017 Associate Professor in Synthetic Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK.

2001-2006 Senior Lecturer in Organic Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK.

1993-2001 Lecturer in Organic Chemistry, University of Warwick, UK.

1992-1993 Post Doctoral Research Assistant, Studies toward Taxol, Prof. Gerald Pattenden, Nottingham University, UK.

1990-1992 Post Doctoral Research Assistant, Synthesis of Germine, Prof. Gilbert Stork, Columbia University, New York, USA.

1990 PhD. Supervisor Prof. Keith Jones, Heterocycle Synthesis via Free Radical Cyclisation, King's College, London, UK.

1987 BSc. (Hons) First Class, Chemistry, King's College, London, UK.

 

Awards

2016 WIHEA Fellowship

1997 SCI prize for promising researcher under the age of 30 awarded at the House of Commons,

1994 Novartis ACE award,

1989 SCI-UK postgraduate award,

1986 Danielli Award.

Professor Andrew Clark

Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor University Academic Director

Department of Chemistry
University of Warwick
Gibbet Hill Road
Coventry
CV4 7AL
UK

Tel: (024) 7652 3242  

Email:
A.J.Clark@warwick.ac.uk