Emma Owens

Project: Oxidation-responsive polymers for immune targeting

Funding: Department of Chemistry GTA Studentship

Research

My research aim is to develop a stimuli responsive polymeric system which enables targeted drug delivery to sites of inflammation throughout the body.

Biography

I graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2015 with a masters degree in chemistry. During my undergraduate degree, I spent 10 weeks of my summer break working with Professor Armes research group at the University of Sheffield. The aim of this short project was to synthesise PMAA-b-PBzMA and PAA-b-PST block copolymers via the RAFT aqueous emulsion polymerisation. Through this I found that I had an interest in polymer chemistry, which ultimately influenced my decision to apply for a PhD in this field. My masters project focused on using molecular modelling programs, such as Gaussian 09, in order to determine the energy of astrochemical reactions. In particular, the objective to resolve why there is a large abundance of methyl formate, rather than the more kinetically stable isomer, glycoaldehyde, near hot cores of young stellar objects. To do this possible reaction routes were modelled and the influence of hydrogen bonding on the energy of these was determined.