Newcastle University

Introduction

I am a lecturer in thermodynamics (to both 1st and 2nd year undergraduate chemical engineers)

My research interests relate to synthetic biology and biomolecular materials. Synthetic biology is the use of standardized biological "parts" (rather like the different types of screws, nails girders that engineers use) to build artificial systems. In particular we are interested in building hybrid bio/machine robots and self replicating artificial cells. In addition we are using synthetic biology approaches to designing advanced materials.

Roles and Responsibilities

Postgraduate Admissions Tutor for Materials and Design MSc
Progression Panel

Qualifications

BSc (First Class) Queen Mary, University of London
Phd University of St-Andrews, Scotland

Previous Positions

Postdoc University of Cambridge
Postdoc Sandia National Labs, USA

Memberships

Biophysical Society

British Biophysical Society

Royal Society of Chemistry

Editorial Board ISRN Biomaterials 

Informal Interests

Russian literature, culture and language
Mathematics
Wine
Watching snooker on TV
Squash
Designing experiments, especially thermodynamics practicals

Research Interests

Synthetic biology
Materials Science
Biophysics
Biomaterials

Other Expertise

Surface Science
Thermodynamics

Current Work

Cyberplasm - building hybrid bio/machine robots.

Protocell Assembly - creating the simplest self replicating artificial entity, i.e. artificial cell.

Origins of life - How did life on Earth evolve?

Biomolecular materials - Biomineralisation and biomimetic nanotechnology

Biological materials science - related to tissue morphogenesis (heart embryology) and mechanotransduction

Postgraduate Supervision

PhD Student - Natalie Adams
PhD Student - Orr Yarkoni
PhD Student - Darman Nordin
Mres Students jointly with Mark Birch, Biomedicine programme(Medical School)

Funding

EPSRC/NSF Grant - "Cyberplasm" £301,000

EPSRC Grant "Surface Nanostructures For The Study of Biomolecular Recognition,Chirality And Crystal Growth" Principal Investigator, value £298,000

Undergraduate Teaching

Thermodynamics Stage 1

Thermodynamics stage 2

Fluid Mechanics Stage 1

Crystallization Stage 3

Biomaterials Stage 3/4 

Postgraduate Teaching

Nanotechnology on the MRes in Biomedicine
Nanomaterials

• Nordin D, Donlon L, Frankel DJ. Characterising single fibronectin-integrin complexes. Soft Matter 2012, (epub ahead of print).
• Nordin D, Yarkoni O, Savinykh N, Frankel D. Protein Directed Assembly of Lipids. Chemical Communications 2012, 48(5), 672-674.
• Nordin D, Yarkoni O, Savinyky N, Donlon L, Frankel D. Revealing the selective interactions of fibronectin with lipid bilayers. Soft Matter 2011, 7(22), 10666-10675.
• Chaudhry B, Ashton H, Muhamed A, Yost M, Bull S, Frankel D. Nanoscale viscoelastic properties of an aligned collagen scaffold. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine 2009, 20(1), 257-263.
• Frankel DJ, Chen Q, Richardson NV. Formation of hydrogen-bridged cytosine dimers on Cu(110). Journal of Chemical Physics 2006,124 20 204704.
• Manzanera M, Frankel DJ, Li H, Zhou D, Bruckbauer A, Kreutzmann P, Blackburn JM, Abell C, Rayment T, Klenerman D, Barker PD. Macroscopic 2D networks self-assembled from nanometer-sized protein/DNA complexes. Nano Letters 2006, 6(3), 365-370.
• Frankel DJ, Pfeiffer JR, Surviladze Z, Johnson AE, Oliver JM, Wilson BS, Burns AR. Revealing the Topography of Cellular Membrane Domains by Combined Atomic Force Microscopy/Fluorescence Imaging. Biophysical Journal 2006,90 7 2404–2413.
• Burns AR, Frankel DJ, Buranda T. Local Mobility in Lipid Domains of Supported Bilayers Characterized by Atomic Force Microscopy and Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy. Biophysical Journal 2005,89 2 1081-1093.
• Frankel DJ, Chen Q, Richardson NV. Adsorption of alpha-pyridone on Cu(110). Journal of Chemical Physics 2002, 116(20), 8988-8993.
• Chen Q, Frankel DJ, Richardson NV. Chemisorption induced chirality: glycine on Cu{110}. Surface Science 2002, 497(1-3), 37-46.
• Chen Q, Frankel DJ, Richardson NV. Self-assembly of adenine on Cu(110) surfaces. Langmuir 2002, 18(8), 3219-3225.
• Chen Q, Frankel DJ, Richardson NV. Dehydrogenation induced phase transitions of p-aminobenzoic acid on Cu(110). Journal of Chemical Physics 2001, 116(2), 460-470.
• Chen Q, Frankel DJ, Lee CW, Richardson NV. Linear dichroism electron scattering from chiral surfaces. Chemical Physics Letters 2001, 349(3-4), 161-171.
• Chen Q, Frankel DJ, Richardson NV. Organic adsorbate induced surface reconstruction: p-aminobenzoic acid on Cu{110}. Langmuir 2001, 17(26), 8276-8280.
• Chen Q, Frankel DJ, Richardson NV. Room-temperature surface structure of 4-aminobenzoic acid on Cu(110) surfaces. Surface and Interface Analysis 2001, 32(1), 43-48.
• Chen Q, Lee CW, Frankel DJ, Richardson NV. The formation of enantiospecific phases on a Cu(110) surface. Phys Chem Comm 1999, 1-4.