School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, UK
Ph: +44 (0)117 3318256; email: wuge.briscoe@bristol.ac.uk
Beatrice Sironi
Beatrice studied Physical Chemistry at the Universita’ degli Studi di Milano in Milan, and there she obtained her Bachelor degree in 2009 and her Master’s degree in 2011. She then joined Bristol University in 2012 where she is currently doing a PhD. Her project, in collaboration with the Weizman Institute of Science, Reohovot, Israel, focuses on synchrotron X-ray reflectometry (XRR) of phosphatidylcholine (PC) liposomes.
In her spare time Beatrice likes reading, jogging, cooking and traveling with friends. (There are rumours that this list should include shoes shopping according to a reliable source.)
PhD Research: Interfacial liposomes
Lipsomes are hollow spheres self-assembled from phospholipids. They are widely researched for application as a delivery vector. When challenged with an interface, they they tend to rupture to form bilayers. Stablised interfacial liposomes have been implicated in a number applications, e.g. in biomimetic lubrication as proposed by Prof. Jacob Klein's group in Israel.
In my PhD project, I have been using synchrotron X-ray reflectivity and a unique mica-liquid-cell developed in Bristol to study the interfacial structure of several liposome systems as a function of their molecular parameters and solution conditions. Other novel systems include lipid multilayers and nanoparticle-stabilised liposomes, which will be the foucs of 2nd half of my PhD.