Newcastle University

Background

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• G. Suárez,* N. Keegan,* J.A. Spoors, P. Ortiz, R.J. Jackson, J. Hedley, X. Borrisé, and C.J. McNeil. Biomolecule patterning on analytical devices: A microfabrication-compatible approach. (2010). Langmuir, 26(8), 6071-6077. *Joint first author.

• N. Keegan, H. Ridley, J.H .Lakey. Discovery of biphasic thermal unfolding of OmpC with implications for surface loop stability. (2010). Biochemistry,49(45), 9715–9721.

• P. Ortiz,*; N. Keegan,*; J. Spoors, J. Hedley, A. Harris, J. Burdess, R. Burnett, T. Velten, M. Biehl, T. Knoll, W. Haberer, M. Solomon, A. Campitelli, C. McNeil. Integration of a bioMEMS device into a disposable microfluidic cartridge for medical diagnostics.(2009). Proc. SPIE, Vol. 7207, 72070D1-D10. *Joint first author.

• A.K. Ismail; J.S. Burdess, A.J. Harris; G. Suarez; N. Keegan; J.A. Spoors; S.C. Chang; C.J. McNeil; J. Hedley. The fabrication, characterization and testing of a MEMS circular diaphragm mass sensor. (2008). Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, 18(2), 1-10.

• N. Keegan, N.G. Wright, J.H. Lakey. Circular dichroism spectroscopy of folding in a protein monolayer. (2005). Angewandte Chemie (International ed. In English), 44(30), 4801- 4804.

• S.A. Holt, J.H. Lakey, S.M. Daud, N. Keegan. Neutron reflectometry of membrane protein assemblies at the solid/liquid interface. (2005). Australian Journal of Chemistry, 58(9), 674-677.

INVITED PRESENTATION

• Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference (IEEE). BioCAS 26-28 November 2009, Beijing, China. 'A microfabrication compatible approach to 3-dimensional patterning of bio-molecules at Bio-MEMS and biosensor surfaces.'

• Photonics West, SPIE sponsored conference, Microfluidics, BioMEMS and Medical Microsystems VII, 26th- 28th January 2009, San Jose, California, United States. ‘Integration of a bioMEMS device into a disposable microfluidic cartridge for medical diagnostics’.

• Nanoeurope, 16th-17th September, 2008, St.-Gallen, Switzerland. ‘A 3-Dimensional Polymeric Network for Micro- or Nano-Patterning of Biomolecules onto Solid Substrates’.

• Japan - UK regional symposium on Nanotechnology, 3rd–5th October, 2005, Hokkadio, Japan. ‘Self-Assembling Protein Monolayers’.

Research Interests

Expertise in biochemistry, molecular biology, nanotechnology and biosensors. More specifically, I actively engage in gene cloning, followed by expression, purification and characterisation of proteins. These proteins and other molecules are produced for use at sensor surfaces, leading to my detailed knowledge of surface immobilisation chemistries. I strongly believe in multidisciplinary research and its advantages for the quality of scientific output. This is illustrated by my current interest in the development of biological, microbial or chemical sensors based on microelectromechanical systems (bio-MEMS). This requires collaboration with mechanical/electrical engineers and microfluidics companies to name but a few. However, some of my most profitable collaborations take place within the Diagnostic and Therapeutic Technologies group itself.

Postgraduate Supervision

• Co-supervisor of PhD. student (Carl Dale) - November 2007 - October 2010(writing up).

Funding

• £63,000. MEAD consortium QinetiQ 3 year PhD. Studentship. ‘Development of Bio-electronics’, 01/11/2007 - 31/10/2010.
Carl Dale was recruited and has successfully proceeded to the second year of his studies. I am Co-supervisor with John Hedley a collaborator from The School of Mechanical and Systems Engineering.

• £1.91Million. EPSRC Grand Challenge for Nanotechnology in Healthcare. ‘Detecting infectious organisms: A concerted approach using genomics, molecular engineering and nano-enabled bio-MEMS technologies (AptaMEMS-ID)’ 01/05/2009 – 30/04/2012
Collaboration between ICM-D&TT (Calum McNeil, Phil Manning, Neil Keegan, James Henderson), ICaMB (Colin Harwood, Anil Wipat), Mechanical & Systems Engineering (John Hedley, Barry Gallacher), the regional HPA laboratory in Newcastle (John Magee, Kate Gould), the NHS Regional Microbiology Network in Leeds (Mark Wilcox) and a small spin-out company from Leeds University, Aptuscan (Paul Ko Ferrigno, Giles Davis, Christoph Wälti).

• £202,223. EPSRC Cross Discipline Feasibility Account. 'Utilizing Graphene for Biosensing (EP/1015930/1)' 22/11/2010 – 21/03/2012.
Co-Investigator with collaborators in the faculties of Medicine and Engineering,

Postgraduate Teaching

• MRes MMB8017 Nanomaterials in Healthcare Technologies.

• MEC8012 Microsystems Engineering.

• Supervisor MRes, BSc. projects, providing hypothesis led project, goals, guidance and critical appraisal of presentation / thesis.

 • Supervisor PhD projects.

• Stadler LKJ, Hoffmann T, Tomlinson DC, Song Q, Lee T, Busby M, Nyathi Y, Gendra E, Tiede C, Flanagan K, Cockell SJ, Wipat A, Harwood C, Wagner SD, Knowles MA, Davis JJ, Keegan N, KoFerrigno P. Structure-function studies of an engineered scaffold protein derived from Stefin A. II: Development and applications of the SQT variant. Protein Engineering Design and Selection 2011, 24(9), 751-763.
• Ortiz P, Keegan N, Spoors J, Hedley J, Harris A, Burdess J, Burnett R, Velten T, Biehl M, Knoll T, Haberer W, Solomon M, Campitelli A, McNeil C. Integration of a bioMEMS device into a disposable microfluidic cartridge for medical diagnostics. In: Microfluidics, BioMEMS, and Medical Microsystems VII. 2009, San Jose, California, USA: SPIE.