School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, UK
Ph: +44 (0)117 3318256; email: wuge.briscoe@bristol.ac.uk
Charlotte Beddoes
Charlotte came from the dark side, as she was an organic chemist before embarking on a physical PhD. It is important to know that Charlotte is not from Wales, that she onced owned a number of sheep and cows, and that she is thoroughly competent at driving a tractor (although the fence posts on her family farm might disagree).
Charlotte is funded by BCFN and also spends considerable amounts of her time feeding her cells at Southmead Hospital. She would escape back to Chemistry from time to time when her cell misbehave, or worse, die.
PhD Research: Understanding Interactions between Nanoparticles and Membranes
For years we have observed nanopoarticles are able to interact and enter cells but how they are able to do this is poorly understood. A better understanding could result in nanoparticles that are safe by design.
This project focuses on the nanoparticles interations with the lipids on the cellular membrane and how their physical properties may affect the energetic barrier preventing the NPs automatically fusing into the cell.
To investigate the effect these nanoparticles have on lipid bending, membrane models have been investigated with small angled x-ray and neutron scattering which are compared to the nanoparticles cellular toxcitiy via in vitro expriments.