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Staff Profile

Dr Gizem Buldum

Lecturer in Engineering Biology and Lab Automation

  • Email: gizem.buldum@ncl.ac.uk
  • Address: ICOS Research Group
    School of Computing
    Newcastle University
    1 Science Square
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE4 5TG
Background

I’m a Lecturer at the School of Computing at Newcastle University and a member of the Interdisciplinary Computing and Complex Biosystems (ICOS) group.

I’m a chemical engineer with an MSc in bioengineering. I received my PhD from Imperial College London, followed by post-doctoral roles in the same institution. I’ve worked and led teams in biopharma industry with the focus of upstream bioprocess development.

Research

My research focuses on engineering cells to be used as a manufacturing platform for high value products.  To facilitate this process, I use lab automation. I work on modulation and standardisation of biosynthetic pathways where genetic constructs can be built as prototypes. 

The invention of engineered platforms is not the same as their delivery due to complexities in biosystems. To address this challenge, my research aims to improve the performance of bioprocesses using automation. By scaling-up synthetic biology, my goal is to bring the potential of engineered cells closer to real world applications. 

Publications

  • Articles

    • 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. In Preparation.
    • 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.