Staff Profile

I’m a Lecturer at the School of Computing at Newcastle University and a member of the Interdisciplinary Computing and Complex Biosystems (ICOS) group. My research focuses on Engineering Biology, integrating synthetic biology, laboratory automation and bioprocess development to design, build, and optimise biological systems.

I received my PhD from Imperial College London, where I also held postdoctoral positions subsequently. Prior to joining Newcastle University, I worked in the biopharmaceutical industry. I led upstream bioprocess development teams and supported the translation of lab-scale innovations into manufacturing processes.

My work brings together expertise from engineering, biotechnology and computation to address challenges in biological design and manufacturing. In my team, we work on technologies that make biological engineering more predictable and scalable.

Research Activities

Living systems are remarkable engineers. They can sense their environment, process information, manufacture complex molecules, and adapt to changing conditions. My research explores how we can engineer these capabilities to develop useful products and workflows. A central theme of our team is accelerating the Design-Build-Test-Learn cycle in Engineering Biology.

Our current research activities span several interconnected themes. These include the development of AI-guided approaches for enzyme discovery and engineering, the use of laboratory automation for strain engineering and protein characterisation, and the engineering of microbial systems for the production of biomaterials. We’re also exploring biological computation, where engineered cellular systems are used to process information, with a particular focus on phase-based logic, genetic oscillators, and microfluidic platforms for studying collective cellular behaviour.

By combining biological engineering with automation and computational methods, my goal is to create more robust and scalable engineering biology technologies that can address challenges in manufacturing, sustainability, healthcare, and environmental applications.

Current Research Projects

·  Engineering Biology for Environmental Applications (EngBio4Env) – UKRI/NERC (2026–present)

·  Generative AI for Designer Biocatalytic Enzymes – BBSRC, with P&G, Prozomix and Insiligence (2025–present)

·  GenePhLo: Genetic Phase-Based Logic for Biological Computation – EPSRC (2024–present)

·  ELIXIR Programme: Cellular and Molecular Research (2024–present)

Opportunities

I’m currently recruiting a PhD student through the UKRI-funded Engineering Biology for Environmental Applications (EngBio4Env) programme. The project will explore the application of engineering biology to address an environmental challenge. We will explore how environmental dynamics in aquatic ecosystems impact the performance of whole-cell biosensors using a microfluidic platform. The student will join a collaborative research environment involving Newcastle University and partner institutions within the EngBio4Env programme.

Prospective PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, industry collaborators, and visiting researchers interested in engineering biology, automation or biological computation are welcome to get in touch.

I’m a Fellow of Advance HE (FHEA). At Newcastle University, I contribute to a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules that introduce students to topics including synthetic biology, bioinformatics, engineering biology, and AI:

• CSC8327 – Introduction to Synthetic Biology (2024–present)
• CSC8334 – Contemporary Topics in Bioinformatics (2025–present)
• CSC3431 – Engineering Biology and AI (2026–present)
• CSC8499 – Project and Dissertation, MSc Advanced Computer Science (2024)

• Articles

  • Burridge, M, Ou, Z, James, K, Buldum, G, Lim, J, Finnigan, J, Charnock, S, Wipat, A. ro-crate-rs: Development of a Lightweight RO-Crate Rust Library for Automated Synthetic Biology. bioRxiv 2026.
  • Wipat, A, Quinlan, T, Buldum, G, Stenkjær Fletcher, C, Lelenaite, I, Willats, W, Hallinan, J. Evolutionary Landscapes of Amylases and Their Carbohydrate Binding Modules. 2026 IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology 2026. In Press.
  • Hérisson J, Duigou T, du Lac M, Bazi-Kabbaj K, Azad MS, Buldum G, Telle O, El-Moubayed Y, Carbonell P, Swainston N, Zulkower V, Kushwaha M, Baldwin GS, Faulon JL. The automated Galaxy-SynBioCAD pipeline for synthetic biology design and engineering. Nature Communications 2022, 13, 5082.
  • Buldum G, Mantalaris A. Systematic Understanding of Recent Developments in Bacterial Cellulose Biosynthesis at Genetic, Bioprocess and Product Levels. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2021, 22(13), 7192.
  • Heide C, Buldum G, Moya-Ramirez I, Ces O, Kontoravdi C, Polizzi K. Design, Development and Optimization of a Functional Mammalian Cell-Free Protein Synthesis Platform. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 2021, 8, 604091.
  • Makrydaki E, Marshall O, Heide C, Buldum G, Kontoravdi K, Polizzi K. Cell-free protein synthesis using Chinese hamster ovary cells. Methods in Enzymology 2021, 659, 411-435.
  • Buldum, G, Tsipa, A, Mantalaris, A. Linking synthetic genetic circuit kinetic modeling to cellulose biosynthesis prediction in Escherichia coli: towards bioprocessing of microbial cell factories. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res 2021, 59.
  • Buldum, G, Bismarck, A, Mantalaris, A. Recombinant biosynthesis of bacterial cellulose in genetically modified Escherichia coli. Bioprocess Biosyst. Eng 2017, 41.
  • Gokgoz, NB, Yalaz, S, Avci, NG, Buldum, G, Ozkirimli Olmez, E, Sariyar Akbulut, B. Investigation of the in vivo interaction between β-lactamase and its inhibitor protein. 2015, 39.
  • Lee, KY, Buldum, G, Mantalaris, A, Bismarck, A. More Than Meets the Eye in Bacterial Cellulose: Biosynthesis; Bioprocessing; and Applications in Advanced Fiber Composites. Macromolecular Bioscience 2014, 14.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Hérisson J, Duigou T, du Lac M, Bazi-Kabbaj K, Azad MS, Buldum G, Telle O, El-Moubayed Y, Carbonell P, Swainston N, Zulkower V, Kushwaha M, Baldwin GS, Faulon JL. Galaxy-SynBioCAD: tools and automated pipelines for Synthetic Biology Design and Metabolic Engineering. In: 2nd Annual Global BioFoundries Alliance Meeting. 2022, Montreal, Canada.
  • Buldum, G, Heide, C, Ces, O, Kontoravdi, C, Polizzi, K. Monitoring the Effect of Accessory Proteins on CHO-Based Cell-Free Protein Synthesis Factory. In: BioPronet 6th Annual Science Meeting. 2019.
  • Buldum, G, Tsipa, A, Mantalaris, A. Genetic Circuit Modelling to Predict Cellulose Biosynthesis in Escherichia coli: Accelerating Bioprocessing in Synthetic Biology. In: AIChE International Conference on Biomolecular Engineering. 2019.
  • Heide, C, Buldum, G, Ces, O, Kontoravdi, C, Polizzi, K. Boosting the Activity of CHO-based Cell-Free Protein Synthesis Factories for High-Throughput in vitro Production of Functional Antibodies. In: AIChE Annual Meeting. 2019. In Preparation.
  • Buldum G, Heide C, Kontoravdi C, Polizzi K. A Cell-Free Platform for the Synthesis of difficult-to-express Proteins. In: AIChE International Conference on Biomolecular Engineering. 2019.
  • Buldum, G, Bismarck, A, Mantalaris, A. Design of a Recombinant Expression System for Bacterial Cellulose Production. In: 17th ICBE. 2015.
  • Buldum, G, Bismarck, A, Mantalaris, A. Cellulose Production in Escherichia coli. In: Synthetic Biology: Engineering, Evolution & Design (SEED). 2015.