Introduction

I graduated in July 2012 from the University of Southampton with an MChem Masters degree in chemistry. During this time I completed an in-house project with Professor Malcolm Levitt studying the effects of paramagnetic materials on long lived singlet states in NMR. This year I have started studying for a PhD with Dr Marcel Utz, continuing at the University of Southampton.

My Research

NMR integrated microfluidic device for sensitive detection of cell metabolomics

The overall aim of my project is to develop a device that can be used to study the metabolites produced by cells at varying conditions. It should be able to be stored in a fluidic support hardware and be inserted wirelessly into the NMR spectrometer. A proposed structure of this device is shown on the right.

The device will be composed of three main layers:

• Fluidic Layer - This layer will contain the sample, ideally of cells.
• Pneumatic Layer - Due to the nature of the sample, this layer will provide the oxygen etc. that the cells require through a valve membrane.
• Resonator Layer - Detecting the signal of the nuclear spins. This electronic layer is optimised in order to provide maximum sensitivity, whilst maintaining sufficient resolution.

Long-term it is hoped that this device could be used to study the effect of changing conditions (e.g. addition of a drug molecule) to the metabolomics of cells.

Read All About It!

Contact

University of Southampton
University Road
SOUTHAMPTON
SO17 1BJ

Tel: 02380 594146

Email: grf1g08@soton.ac.uk